First lady Jill Biden criticized her husband’s main general election rival at Pittsburgh’s annual Pride Festival on Saturday, saying former President Trump was “dangerous” to the LGBTQ+ community.
In addition to going after Trump, Biden spoke about the progress the LGBTQ+ community has made, but also warned of challenges ahead.
“Donald Trump is a bully,” Biden said at Allegheny Commons Park, according to The Advocate. “He is a danger to the LGBTQ+ community, our families and our country. We can’t let him win. We must face this moment as if our fundamental rights are at stake. “We must face this moment as if democracy were at stake.”
Biden, speaking to Erie County Community College graduates earlier in the day, reflected on the importance of gathering each June to celebrate the progress the LGBTQ+ community has made. She also noted where more work is needed.
“It doesn’t take courage to go to school and walk down the hall like someone you know, to hold someone’s hand on the bus or to say goodbye on the sidewalk,” she said Saturday. “But in too many places it still is.”
Biden’s Pennsylvania appearance and remarks at the festival are another effort to woo voters ahead of the November election in a battleground state that her husband won by about 80,000 votes in 2020. While President Biden has recently struggled in polls head-to-head with Trump, the first lady said she was optimistic the polls would turn in his favor as the campaign picks up steam and voter attention moves closer to the primary.
“We will meet people where they are,” she said Wednesday. “I’ve been traveling every day. Joe has been traveling as much as he can. We’re not taking anything for granted and I’m confident the polls will change.”
