Two years to the day after the disastrous debate performance that ended his presidential campaign, Joe Biden stood before a cheering Maryland crowd Saturday night and delivered the most blistering public attack on Donald Trump of his post-presidency, calling him a loser, a narcissist, and the most corrupt president in American history.
Speaking at the Maryland Democratic Party's Fight Back & Win Gala at a Maryland casino, Biden painted Trump as vain and corrupt, drawing on a string of recent controversies in Washington.
"It's not just his vanity projects, tearing down the East Wing of the White House making room for his ballroom, putting his name on the Kennedy Center, building an arch in his own honor, even hiring his own pool guy to fix the reflecting pool. Woah! What a loser," Biden told the crowd.
The reflecting pool jab landed on fertile ground. The iconic Washington landmark was recently renovated by a company owned by a Trump donor, awarded the contract without a competitive tender. It promptly turned green with algae and began peeling — a public embarrassment that gave Biden his sharpest comic material of the night.
"The reflecting pool reflects something even worse than the narcissism and incompetence at the core of this administration," Biden continued. "It's the corruption, the brazen, blatant corruption. Corruption on a scale never seen before in American history in any administration."
Biden also attacked Trump's handling of America's 250th Independence Day celebrations, whose centerpiece fair on the National Mall drew sparse crowds, empty booths, and a largely deserted Ferris wheel — prompting widespread mockery on social media and in the press. Several Democratic-governed states declined to send official delegations, citing costs and the event's politicization, leaving some state displays reduced to a photo board and a handful of chairs.
The former president did not hold back on January 6, either, declaring that the Capitol rioters deserved no compensation — "they deserve to sit in jail for a very long time" — a swipe at reported administration plans to offer payouts to those convicted in connection with the attack.
All of this played out as Biden, 83, continues to battle prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, undergoing radiation and hormone therapy after receiving the diagnosis months after leaving the White House. "I think Joe will live with cancer for the rest of his life," Dr. Jill Biden said in a recent NBC interview.
The speech drew mixed reactions within Democratic circles. A recent CNN poll found only 30% of Americans hold a favorable view of Biden, lower than at any point during his presidency. Many in the party remain frustrated by his handling of the 2024 election and are wary of reopening those wounds. The speech coincided with Dr. Jill Biden's memoir promotional tour and renewed public activity by Hunter Biden, both of which have aggravated Democrats who feel the family is relitigating painful recent history.
Biden closed the night with a call to arms. "To everyone who loves our country," he told the crowd, "my message tonight is simple and direct: get up, for God's sake. Get up now and keep fighting."
