President Joe Biden came to Chicago Monday afternoon for a big money Gold Coast fundraiser where he assailed former President Donald Trump for curbing abortion rights and said the “chaos” it has caused symbolized his presidency.
“Just today (Trump) released a video where he’s scrambling on the abortion issue, scrambling on the issue. He’s worried voters are going to hold him accountable for overturning Roe v. Wade. And for the cruelty and chaos that’s crazy,” Biden said.
“Well, the bad news is for him, he bragged about overruling Roe v. Wade, and those others are going to hold him accountable,” he said. “For 50 years, women in America did not have to worry about a fundamental right. It didn’t matter where they lived. It didn’t matter wherever they were. It didn’t matter. It was a fundamental right. But Trump took it away. Now women in America have fewer rights than their mothers or grandmothers had. And this is outrageous.”
Biden spoke at the home of Michael Sacks, chairman and CEO of GCM Grosvenor investments, who is leading the private fundraising for Chicago as host city for the Democratic National Convention in August.
Also sponsoring the event was Laura Ricketts, a member of the Chicago Cubs ownership as well as the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. A Democratic source said the get-together was expected to raise about $2.5 million for Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee from roughly 40 attendees, who also included Bill Daley, a former White House chief of staff and commerce secretary and son and brother of two Chicago mayors, and M.K. Pritzker, the wife of Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Biden’s remarks came hours after Trump made his highly anticipated statement on abortion, stopping short of calling for nationwide federal limits on the procedure but saying he supported the decision of the conservative Supreme Court majority he appointed while president that sent decisions on legalizing the procedure back to the individual states.
In a near 4 ½ minute video posted on his Truth Social site, Trump claimed credit for the court’s June 2022 Dobbs decision on abortion. “I was, proudly, the person responsible for the ending of something that all legal scholars — both sides — wanted and, in fact, demanded be ended: Roe v. Wade,” he said.
“The states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land,” Trump said. “Many states will be different. Many will have a different number of weeks, or some will (be) more conservative than others, and that’s what they will be. At the end of the day, this is all about the will of the people.”
Democrats have used the court’s decision as a powerful motivating force in both the 2022 midterm elections as well as in gearing up for the November presidential election, including placing abortion rights related initiatives on several state ballots.
“Mark my words, it’s going to move millions of voters and women and men to the polls this year. And I’ve said many times, Trump and the MAGA crowd don’t have a clue about the power of women in America. They’re about to find out,” Biden said, using the acronym for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” motto.
“Folks, look, chaos is nothing new to Trump. His presidency was chaos. Trump is trying to make the country forget how dark and unsettling things were when he was president. But we’ll never forget,” he said.
Biden said he and Trump have vastly different views of America.
“Trump’s vision is one that is really full of anger and hate and revenge and retribution. He looks at America and sees a failing nation. His phrase, not mine, his phrase, failing nation. He’s dead wrong. I have a very different view of America. And I mean it from the bottom of my heart, one of hope and optimism. I see an America that defends democracy. We don’t diminish it,” the president said.
“This election is about democracy, freedom in America. I wish the stakes weren’t that high but they are. That’s why I need you,” he said.
Outside the event, a few hundred protesters gathered along Michigan Avenue, chanting against Biden’s support for Israel in its war with Hamas that has created mass casualties in Gaza. The protesters also critized the state’s two Democratic U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, for being complicit to Biden’s wishes.
Greeting Biden when he arrived at a landing zone near Soldier Field were U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.
Earlier Monday, Biden made a stop in Wisconsin, a vital battleground state that, along with reliably Democratic Illinois, is part of the Midwest “blue wall” that won Biden the White House in 2020 and which Democrats are anxious to shore up for the November general election.
In Madison, the home of the University of Wisconsin, Biden touted new plans for providing debt relief from student loans.
Biden’s new debt plan would expand federal student loan relief to new categories of borrowers through the Higher Education Act, which administration officials believe puts it on a stronger legal footing than Biden’s earlier sweeping proposal that the Supreme Court killed by a 6-3 vote last year.
The plan unveiled Monday is expected to be smaller and more targeted than Biden’s original plan, which would have canceled up to $20,000 in loans for more than 40 million borrowers. The new plan would cancel some or all federal student loans for more than 30 million Americans, the White House said. The Education Department plans to issue a formal proposal in the coming months, with plans to start implementing parts of the plan as early as this fall.
The plan’s widest-reaching benefit would cancel up to $20,000 in interest for borrowers who have seen their balance grow beyond its original amount because of unpaid interest. Borrowers could get the entirety of their interest erased, with no limit, if they are enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan and have annual incomes of less than $120,000 or couples making less than $240,000.
It also includes a proposal to cancel student debt for borrowers who first began replaying their loans 20 or more years ago.
Biden said he wanted to “give everybody a fair shot” and the “freedom to chase their dreams” as he lamented the rising cost of higher education.
“Even when they work hard and pay their student loans, their debt increases and not diminishes,” he said. “Too many people feel the strain and stress, wondering if they can get married, have their first child, start a family, because even if they get by, they still have this crushing, crushing debt.”
Republicans said Biden’s plan shifts the financial burden of college tuition onto taxpayers who didn’t take out loans to attend school.
“This is an unfair ploy to buy votes before an election and does absolutely nothing to address the high cost of education that puts young people right back into debt,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who chairs a committee on education and other issues.
The Associated Press contributed.
