Biden takes aim at Trump over immigrant remarks: ‘Diversity is our strength’
President Biden took aim at former President Trump on Wednesday for his remarks that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country,” saying immigrants make the country stronger.
“We always believed diversity is our strength as a nation. I don’t believe, as the president — former president — said again yesterday, that immigrants are polluting, polluting our blood,” Biden said in remarks at the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce.
“The economy and our nation are stronger when we tap into the full range of talents of this nation. My administration will continue to fight these attacks, because everyone deserves a fair shot, just a shot,” he added.
Trump at a rally in New Hampshire on Saturday claimed immigrants were “pouring into” the United States and “poisoning the blood of our country.” He doubled down on those ideas Tuesday evening, repeating his claim that immigrants coming into the U.S. are “destroying the blood of our country” during a rally in Iowa.
During a campaign reception Tuesday, Biden noted the GOP pushback Trump has received over the remarks, saying “even conservative Republicans have spoken out.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) earlier Tuesday said, “It strikes me that didn’t bother him when he appointed Elaine Chao the secretary of Transportation,” referring to his wife, who is Taiwanese American.
Biden also criticized Trump on Wednesday over his administration's response to businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly Black-owned businesses.
“Let’s be clear: Republicans are against so many critical actions that help working- and middle-class people, especially Black Americans,” Biden said.
“Just remember how the pandemic hit Black businesses especially hard. How my predecessor on his watch, women- and minority-owned small businesses found themselves last in line to access emergency relief through programs like the Paycheck Protection Program,” Biden said, arguing that when he took office, emergency relief went to minority businesses “first."
The president traveled to Wisconsin to tout what the White House is calling a Black small-business boom that the president’s economic agenda helped drive.
He discussed how Black business ownership is growing at the fastest pace in 30 years, and that the share of Black households owning a business has doubled between 2019 and 2022, according to data from the White House.