CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. (AP/WBBM NEWSRADIO) — President Biden’s stop in the northwest Chicago suburbs Wendesday may have highlighted the commander in chief’s legislative priorities, but it also underscored the political rifts remaining after the 2020 election.
People carrying flags and signs backing former president Donald Trump chanted, jeered and — in one case — blew a trombone as Biden landed at McHenry County College.
He came to talk about his American Families plan, but critics like Michael Stanard of Woodstock said they don’t believe a word.
“He’s a fraud and a panderer,” Stanard told WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore. “He’s the most inauthentic person we’ve ever had in Washington. Fifty years, he’s never done anything.”
Debbie Gallagher came with her granddaughter.
“I feel sorry for them that there’s so much anger and hatred, and really, we need more love,” she said.
The Democratic president set out for the Chicago suburbs to bolster support for both his bipartisan infrastructure deal and a broader package that he expects will be passed with only Democratic votes. His message is one designed to resonate with suburban parents, college graduates and the working poor — a coalition that was key to Biden's election win last year.
“There’s a lot of work ahead of us to finish the job, but we’re going to get it done," Biden said in a 30-minute speech that he self-deprecatingly suggested was boring but important. “We’re going to reimagine what our economy and our future could be.”
Before the speech, Biden toured a metals lab at the McHenry County College.
President Biden was greeted by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot when he landed in Illinois and was met at the community college by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker; Illinois' two Democratic senators, Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth; and Democratic Rep. Lauren Underwood, who represents the district.
Biden won Illinois’ 14th Congressional District by about 2 percentage points in 2020, and Underwood won reelection by less than that. Hers is one of the top-targeted seats in the nation and is emblematic of the kind of district Democrats will need to hold onto in the 2022 midterms if they hope to maintain control of the House.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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