Biden rallies House Democrats, calls Trump and his MAGA friends ‘losers’

LEESBURG, Va. — President Biden called former President Trump and his allies in Congress losers while rallying House Democrats Thursday.

Biden projected confidence ahead of 2024, when House Democrats are looking to win back the lower chamber, and noted that 2022 marked a good year for Democrats who experienced better-than-expected midterm results and created razor thin margins in the House.

“When voters have a choice between what we stand for and what Trump and the MAGA Republicans stand for, we win,” he said. “Which makes Trump and his MAGA friends losers.”

“We’re investing in America, bringing back pride to communities, pride to our country. I want to thank you for doing the job you’re elected to do. It matters to the American people, and we’re in a position to win in 2024, I think,” the president said at the caucus’s annual strategy retreat in Leesburg.

Biden also blasted Trump for his role in torpedoing the bipartisan border deal, accusing him of trying to intimidate Republican lawmakers into opposing the bill. 

“You had worked so hard, a bipartisan group, so hard for so long to deal with the border,” he said. “And, guess what? Donald Trump allegedly — I can’t prove this, I’m told — called people and said, ‘if you support that, I’m coming after you.’”

“Are we here to solve a problem or just to weaponize for political attacks those problems?” Biden added.

“We’re here to serve the American people,” he said of Democrats.

Biden is no stranger to the Democrats’ annual retreat, having addressed the gathering for years as vice president under former President Obama before ascending to the presidency and taking over the spot as keynote speaker himself. 

This year, he made his best effort to energize the friendly audience ahead of November.

“When we’re united, we can beat House Republicans and their cynical political games,” he said. 

Heading into the retreat, some Democrats — particularly those in the Hispanic Caucus — were furious that the White House and Senate had cut them out of negotiations on a border security bill. But those gripes dissipated when Biden arrived.

The response from the packed room was generous: He got a long standing ovation at the start and another as he concluded with visions of a Speaker Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) in the next Congress.

At the top of his remarks, the president spoke briefly about special counsel Robert Hur’s report on his handling of classified documents. He highlighted in particular a section of the report that compares his handling of documents with Trump’s handling of them, saying he was “pleased” the special counsel made the “stark difference” between the two cases.

“This matter is now closed,” he added, banging his fist on the podium.