Biden administration trounces Texas, Arizona in battle of busing, flying migrants across U.S. border
PHOENIX – Democrat Joe Biden led the charge Sunday as the top-performing Democrat in California, New Jersey and New York in a campaign event.
And he won the battle of the buses.
He spoke of his role as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where lawmakers gave a favorable report to the Trump administration on its border bill.
And he spoke to the thousands of cheering supporters in a hangar of the nearby former Air Force base.
Some held signs that read “Biden 2020.” Others carried signs that read “Dems out of America.”
It was Biden’s first presidential campaign event since launching his presidential bid on Tuesday. He’s considered the early favorite in the race.
Biden and his wife, Jill, attended the event in what was described by his campaign director, Kate Bedingfield, as a “huge turnout.”
“He’s always been the strongest Democrat in the room,” Bedingfield said.
The Democratic field is expected to grow this week as at least three more candidates join the two primary fields.
Democrats have long said the most pressing issue for them is their party’s relationship with non-white voters, who make up roughly 16 percent of the U.S. population and vote three to one for the GOP.
For weeks, Democrats have sought to capitalize on the Trump administration’s move to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which gives priority to the dreams of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.
“We had a chance to talk about the DACA decision, which the administration was going to announce last night,” Biden said. “It turned out that DACA wasn’t in fact going to be ended. It was going to continue.”
He said he wants to make the same point in South Carolina, where he’s considering jumping in the race for the White House before the Feb. 20 primary.
He’s the only presidential candidate that is not a member of the congressional majority party. That gives them an advantage.