Biden news – live: President promises to fund police and ban assault weapons in latest speech

President Joe Biden will deliver a prime-time speech on the “battle for the soul of the nation” this week ahead of the midterm elections later this year.

The White House says that Mr Biden will travel to Philadelphia on Thursday to give the speech at the city’s Independence National Historical Park. The speech will be the president’s second appearance in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania this week, coming after a rally yesterday at which he spoke about his crime prevention plans and gun control legislation.

Celebrating the passage of this year’s gun safety legislation, which he said represented a triumph over the National Rifle Association, Mr Biden insisted he is determined to ban assault weapons from the US.

He also bucked the progressive wing of his party with a promise to fund the police – and declared that Republicans who called 6 January rioters “patriots” cannot justifiably call themselves supporters of law enforcement.

Key Points

• Biden “determined to ban assault weapons"

• Strong defence of law enforcement comes with condemnation of 6 January riot

• President to speak in Philadelphia tonight on “soul of the nation”

‘We have to act’: Biden renews call for updated assault weapons ban

09:30 , Andrew Naughtie

President Joe Biden on Tuesday reiterated his call for Congress to pass an updated version of the ban on military-style semiautomatic rifles that was a centrepiece of the 1994 anti-crime legislation he authored as a senator.

Mr Biden renewed his call for an updated assault weapons ban at an event in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to highlight what his administration is calling the “Safer America Plan”. He said banning the types of military-style rifles that have become the weapon of choice for mass shooters in recent years would be a “common-sense action” that builds on the Safer Communities Act — the first gun control legislation to pass Congress in decades — which he signed into law earlier this year.

Andrew Feinberg watched the president’s remarks.

Biden renews call for updated assault weapons ban: ‘We have to act’

Biden campaign paperwork not sign of a re-election launch

08:30 , Oliver O'Connell

A 30 August form filed with the Federal Election Commission by Joe Biden’s campaign committee is not a sign that an announcement of a re-election bid is imminent, a Democratic National Committee official has said.

On Tuesday, Mr Biden’s 2020 committee, “Biden for President,” filed an updated “Statement of Organization” with the FEC.

But the Democratic official told The Independent the filing was routine.

Andrew Feinberg has the details.

Biden campaign paperwork not sign of a re-election launch

Mandela Barnes security costs being made campaign issue

06:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate, logged more than 10 times as many hours of security than his predecessor, an issue that Republican Sen. Ron Johnson is raising in the hotly contested race.

Barnes' security costs become campaign issue in Senate run

Fetterman campaign calls on Biden to decriminalise weed

04:45 , Oliver O'Connell

John Fetterman does not want to hear “any bull****” from his Republican opponent Mehmet Oz about his support for decriminalising cannabis, or any attempts from the TV doctor-turned-GOP candidate to conflate weed “with seriously harmful crime”.

Pennsylvania’s Democratic nominee for US Senate has pressed Joe Biden’s administration to decriminalise cannabis ahead of the president’s planned trip to Pittsburgh on Labor Day, saying in a message from his campaign that it is “long past time” to remove cannabis from the federal government’s most-restricted categories of drugs, alongside heroin and LSD.

Alex Woodward reports.

Fetterman campaign calls on Biden to decriminalise weed ahead of Pennsylvania visit

Photo resurfaces of Biden talking to homeless man outside movies

01:30 , Oliver O'Connell

A photograph of PresidentJoe Biden speaking to an individual who appears to be homeless has resurfaced, thanks to a popular Reddit post.

The post, captioned “After seeing a movie with his family, Biden takes a moment to speak with a homeless man”, shows Mr Biden leaning down on a public street speaking with a man in a gray sweatshirt and black jacket. The post already has more than 76,000 engagements since it was published on Monday.

Abe Asher reports.

Photo of Biden talking to homeless man outside movies resurfaces

Pennsylvania AG breaks with Dems on Covid policies in gubernatorial race

Wednesday 31 August 2022 00:30 , Oliver O'Connell

As attorney general, Josh Shapiro went to court repeatedly to defend Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration against legal challenges to his pandemic-era mandates and shutdowns.

Now, as he’s running to succeed Wolf as governor, Shapiro says he is against some of the same COVID-19 containment measures that his fellow Democrat used to help manage the nation’s worst pandemic in over a century.

Shapiro breaks with Dems on COVID policies in Pa. gov race

Biden headed to Milwaukee and Pittsburgh on Labor Day

Tuesday 30 August 2022 23:30 , Oliver O'Connell

President Joe Biden plans to travel to the battleground states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania on Labor Day, about two months before the election.

Biden will speak at Milwaukee‘s Laborfest celebration and will go to Pittsburgh where other national labor leaders are appearing at that city’s Labor Day Parade, both the White House and labor unions said Monday. Biden plans to “celebrate Labor Day and the dignity of American workers,” according to the White House.

Biden headed to Milwaukee, Pittsburgh on Labor Day

Biden: Attacks on FBI ‘sickening'

Tuesday 30 August 2022 22:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Biden renews call for updated assault weapons ban: ‘We have to act

Tuesday 30 August 2022 21:57 , Oliver O'Connell

President Joe Biden on Tuesday reiterated his call for Congress to pass an updated version of the ban on military-style semiautomatic rifles that was a centrepiece of the 1994 anti-crime legislation he authored as a senator.

Mr Biden renewed his call for an updated assault weapons ban at an event in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania to highlight what his administration is calling the “Safer America Plan”. He said banning the types of military-style rifles that have become the weapon of choice for mass shooters in recent years would be a “common-sense action” that builds on the Safer Communities Act — the first gun control legislation to pass Congress in decades — which he signed into law earlier this year.

Andrew Feinberg watched the president’s remarks.

‘We have to act’: Biden renews call for updated assault weapons ban

In pictures: President Joe Biden delivers remarks on gun crime

Tuesday 30 August 2022 21:25 , Oliver O'Connell

Tuesday 30 August 2022 21:17 , Oliver O'Connell

President Biden closes out his remarks by slightly flubbing his lines and mistakenly calling on Pennsylvania to elect Attorney General Shapiro to the Senate and “that big old boy” Lt Gov John Fetterman as governor.

It’s actually the other way around.

Tuesday 30 August 2022 21:11 , Oliver O'Connell

“I’m opposed to defunding the police. I’m also opposed to defunding the FBI,” he says referring to the latest attacks on the agency by Trump-loyalist Republicans.

Tuesday 30 August 2022 21:09 , Oliver O'Connell

A big cheer from the crowd when Mr Biden says: “Don’t tell me you support law enforcement if you won’t condemn what happened on January 6. For God’s sake, who’s side are you on?”

Tuesday 30 August 2022 21:08 , Oliver O'Connell

“It’s time to hold every elected official’s feet to the fire and ask them: Are you for banning assault weapons, yes or no? Ask them. If the answer is no, vote against them.”

Tuesday 30 August 2022 21:07 , Oliver O'Connell

“More children in America die from guns than active-duty police and active-duty military personnel combined. We have to act.”

The president gets emotional talking about his visit to Uvalde, Texas after a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in a classroom, noting that some grieving families had to submit DNA in order to identify their children’s remains.

“Do you realise the bullet out of an AR-15 travels five times as rapidly as a bullet shot out of any other guns and can pierce Kevlar?” Mr Biden says. “Imagine being a parent just losing a child not being able to physically identify the child.”

“What the hell’s the matter with us?” he asks.

Tuesday 30 August 2022 20:57 , Oliver O'Connell

Big applause for Biden when he delivers a line about beating the National Rifle Association:“We took them on and we beat them straight up. You have no idea how intimidating they are to elected officials.”

“I’m determined to ban assault weapons in this country — determined!” he adds. “I did it once before and I’ll do it again.”

Tuesday 30 August 2022 20:54 , Oliver O'Connell

“You gotta know and be able to trust the police. The police have to be able to trust the community. But we slipped away from that. We have a hell of a lot fewer cops today than we did when I wrote that initial crime bill. But now we have to get back to it.”

Tuesday 30 August 2022 20:50 , Oliver O'Connell

“I’m old enough to remember when cops used to walk the beat, in Wilmington and in Scranton, because they knew everybody. They knew if someone was in trouble, they knew whose house to go knock on the door, and say, ‘mom, your son just did.’ I’m not being facetious.”

Tuesday 30 August 2022 20:50 , Oliver O'Connell

Biden, to cheers in Wilkes-Barre: “You know, I call it the Safer America Plan. And both of your members of Congress voted for it. It’s based on a simple notion — when it comes to public safety in this nation, the answer is not defund the police, it’s fund the police.”

Biden delivering remarks on Safer America Plan

Tuesday 30 August 2022 20:47 , Oliver O'Connell

President Joe Biden is delivering remarks on the Safer America Plan in the small city of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

He spends time praising Pennsylvania lawmakers and notes the proximity of his hometown.

“We’re almost in heaven; we’re almost in Scranton, almost.”

Singling out Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, running for the Senate, he says: “I used to be, in the old days, a pretty good athlete. And if someone was really big and tough you’d say, ‘I wouldn’t screw with him if I had a sledgehammer’.”

The president adds: “I tell you what, Fetterman’s a hell of a guy. A powerful voice for working people. And he’s going to make a great United States senator.”

ICYMI: Biden likens Trump’s Maga movement to ‘semi-fascism’

Tuesday 30 August 2022 20:30 , Oliver O'Connell

In his sternest denunciations of Republicans to date, Joe Biden has excoriated his predecessor Donald Trump’s core Maga philosophy as “semi-fascism” and declared that the extreme right are committed to “destroying America”.

Mr Biden made the remarks as he hit the midterm campaign trail in earnest for the first time, tearing into pro-Trump Republicans at a closed-door Democratic fundraiser and in a fiery speech in Maryland.

Shweta Sharma reports.

Joe Biden likens Trump’s Maga movement to ‘semi-fascism’

Why are Biden and Trump both going to this small Pennsylvania city?

Tuesday 30 August 2022 20:09 , Oliver O'Connell

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden is travelling to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to discuss gun violence.

Then, on Saturday, former president Donald Trump will head to the same small town to hold a rally at the Mohegan Sun Arena to support Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Mehmet Oz and gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano.

On the surface, it might be surprising to see two presidents visit a city with less than 41,000 residents that is a two-hour drive from Philadelphia — Eric Garcia explains why that’s not the case.

Why are Joe Biden and Donald Trump both going to this small Pennsylvania City?

Is the Safer America Plan the 1994 Crime Bill reheated?

Tuesday 30 August 2022 19:55 , Oliver O'Connell

It’s 1994 again in Washington.

Americans are once again worried about rising crime rates. Democrats are once again worried that Republican attacks about them being “soft on crime” will cost them at the polls. And a backslapping, centrist Delaware legislator named Joe Biden is once again leading the charge to hire 100,000 new police officers, just as he did with his signature 1994 crime bill.

In 2022, the president is asking Congress to fund the $37bn Safer America Plan, which includes nearly $13bn to put 100,000 more police officers on the street.

Josh Marcus and Alex Woodward take a look at President Biden’s latest crime prevention plan, the subject of today’s speech in Pennsylvania.

Why does Biden want to hire 100,000 more police officers?

Biden to give primetime speech on ‘soul of the nation’

Tuesday 30 August 2022 19:45 , Oliver O'Connell

President Joe Biden will deliver a prime-time speech on the “battle for the soul of the nation” this week ahead of the midterm elections later this year.

The White House says that Mr Biden will travel to Philadelphia on Thursday to give the speech at the city’s Independence National Historical Park.

Graeme Massie reports.

Biden to give primetime speech on ‘soul of the nation’ in Philadelphia