Pennsylvania took center stage in the rapidly approaching 2024 presidential election this week. Both candidates visited Pennsylvania in the past few days, and the polls show the race in the swing state is within a razor-thin margin.

President Joe Biden appeared at the United Steelworkers building in Downtown Pittsburgh on Wednesday as a part of his reelection bid. Surrounded by a crowd of around 200 steel union leaders, supporters and journalists, Biden used the appearance to tout his new economic plans, mainly his calls to increase tariffs on China, while also making his case against his presumptive 2024 election opponent, Donald Trump. 

This visit, part of the President’s three-stop tour of Pennsylvania this week, was Biden’s first to Pittsburgh since Oct. 2022. Biden, who carried Pittsburgh by nearly 150,000 votes in 2020, emphasized his appreciation for the Steel City early and often in his speech.

“I am Pittsburgh,” Biden said. “My love for Pittsburgh goes back to my Scranton days. My grandfather always talked about Pittsburgh. Long story short, bottom line fell to the side and I am president because of you guys.”

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Ganiey, who spoke before Biden, also touched on the President’s claimed “affection” for Pittsburgh. Gainey thanked Biden for selecting Pittsburgh as one of five “workforce hubs” last year, which will act as testing grounds for the administration’s labor initiatives.

“You know [Biden] has an affection for the city,” Gainey said. “He selected us one out of five. If that doesn’t speak volumes for how he feels about this region, I don’t know what [will].”

The President’s appearance in Pittsburgh comes as his rival Trump is facing legal disputes in  New York for his alleged falsification of business records before the 2016 election. Trump visited Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Saturday as the two prepare to clash for the key swing state in November.

Biden didn’t waste time getting to the reasons he came to Pittsburgh. Using Pittsburgh as a blue-collar backdrop, the President spent most of Wednesday’s speech speaking out against Trump and the Chinese government. Following his introduction and greetings, Biden accused the Chinese government of overproducing steel to pump into the global market. 

“The Chinese government has poured state money into Chinese steel companies, pushing them to make as much steel as possible, subsidized by the Chinese government,” Biden said. “Chinese steel companies produce a lot more steel than China needs. It ends up dumping the excess steel on the global market at unfairly low prices.”

Just before the speech on Wednesday morning, the Biden administration announced its call for increased tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum. Biden addressed this announcement in front of the United Steelworkers during his speech, stating that he would push to triple these tariffs pending an investigation into Chinese trade practices.

“Right now, my US Trade Representative [Katherine Tai] is investigating a trade practice by the Chinese government involving steel and aluminum,” Biden said. “If that investigation confirms these anti-competitive trade practices, then I’m calling on her to consider tripling the tariffs on steel and aluminum for some time.”

Biden’s promise to push for increased tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum was met with an ovation from the United Steelworkers’ representative in attendance. Union President David McCall, who spoke before Biden, also advanced a similarly tough stance on foreign steel imports while showing his support for the President.

“Like all workers, we want fair trade, so the bad actors from overseas can not undercut our jobs,” McCall said. “We know that President Biden values these things too, and the policies and priorities he advances have working families at the center.”

Biden then honed in on Trump when discussing his 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which provided investments in green energy. The President said Trump and other Republicans would repeal the bill if elected in 2024, which Biden claims will cost jobs.

“My predecessor [Trump] and my Republican friends in Congress want to repeal that law [the IRA],” Biden said. “That would cut those jobs [created by the bill].”

Biden did not explicitly address Trump’s ongoing legal battles during Wednesday’s event. But the President did call out Trump for his alleged statements regarding deceased war veterans. Biden, whose son Beau served in the Delaware National Guard before his death from brain cancer in 2015, got emotional when talking about his deceased son’s time in the military and his opponent’s alleged statements. 

“One of the things I was reminded of today was what my opponent said in Paris,” Biden said. “They asked him to go visit American gravesites. He said he wouldn’t do it because they’re all ‘suckers and losers.’ I’m not making that up… That man doesn’t deserve to be the Commander-in-chief for my son.”

Despite the brief attack on his opponent, Biden wrapped up the event on an optimistic note. 

“We have a lot of work to do, but I’m confident we can do it,” Biden said. “I’ve never been more optimistic about our possibilities as a nation. So let’s go out and get them.”

Pitt senior and Student Government Board President Ryan Young was in attendance to hear Biden’s speech on Wednesday. Young told The Pitt News he appreciated Biden’s commitment to supporting unions, especially in relation to Pitt’s own faculty union.

“I think that something that’s relevant to [Pitt students], especially with a unionized faculty and for the efforts of the staff and graduate unions that are affiliated with the United Steelworkers, to say that the President stands with those people and uplifting those labor efforts is really important,” Young said. 

Biden finished up his tour of the Keystone state on Thursday with a visit to Philadelphia, where the Kennedy family endorsed the President in his reelection bid.