In Scranton, Joe Biden says his roots there give him perspective Donald Trump lacks on how to help middle class

Oct. 23-- Oct. 23--Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden returned to his hometown Wednesday morning with a message for the northeastern Pennsylvania voters who gave Donald Trump a shot last time around.

Using well-worn stories of his Scranton childhood, Biden pledged to rebuild the middle-class if elected and portrayed the Republican incumbent as lacking empathy for the struggles those Americans face.

"We don't deserve a president who goes out of his way to make life in America harder, crueler, pettier," Biden said of Trump during a speech at the Scranton Cultural Center. "He said he's working for the forgotten American. Well, he forgot about the forgotten American."

Biden's speech was the first half of a political doubleheader today in Pennsylvania. Trump also will be in the state today, addressing a natural gas industry conference in Pittsburgh later this afternoon.

Both candidates are playing to key constituencies in the swing state. While in heavily Democratic Pittsburgh, Trump will be touting to a friendly crowd his administration's efforts to roll back regulations that industry officials argue hamper production.

Biden headed to the other end of the state, where political shifts in 2016 aided Trump in becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to win Pennsylvania since 1988. He flipped neighboring Luzerne County, where Biden held a fundraiser last night, and narrowed the Democratic margin of victory in Lackwanna, home to Scranton.

In that critical region, Biden emphasized his local roots, saying the working-class areas where he grew up in Scranton and Delaware deeply shaped his values. He reiterated one of his main campaign themes: workers no longer have the financial stability they once did, and that they deserve the economic security to be able to take care of their families.

"With all due respect, and I've never talked about a president like this, I don't think Donald Trump is capable of understanding that," Biden said. "He doesn't seem to have any sense of empathy at all."

Referencing his oft-used phrase about the "longest walk" a parent has to take -- when they walk to their child's room to say they've lost their job -- Biden said the longest walk Trump's father ever took "was to drop off $400 million in his trust account."

Biden didn't roll out new policy proposals, instead repeating his stance on expanding health care coverage through a public insurance option and expanding education funding for pre-K programs and tuition-free community college. He also talked about climate change, arguing that if the existential threat is handled right, it will be an opportunity to create new, higher-paying jobs.

"These are really big challenges, but they're no bigger than our capacity as Americans," Biden said. "We have to get started thinking big again."

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