Biden wades into Philly crime wave trying to boost Fetterman in tight Senate race against GOP’s Ozio
WASHINGTON — Democrat Joe Biden went to Philadelphia and promised to use the federal government to help crack down on crime, even if it meant spending billions of dollars on city projects.
The former veep’s stop in an area with a history of gang violence — a city on the verge of bankruptcy and its youngest mayor ever — was aimed at helping Fetterman, who’s in a tight race against Republican Andy Ozio, and who is defending his seat against a primary challenge from fellow Republican Chris Bowers, a retired Air Force pilot. He won an unexpectedly strong second-round primary, and the district backed Democratic nominee Sen. Bob Casey in 2009 and 2010.
Ozio, a strong supporter of Obama, got the endorsement over the weekend of two liberal former mayors who backed Fetterman over the incumbent in the first round of voting. They said the president and his administration have done “nothing” to help reduce crime in Philadelphia, and now Biden wanted to make up for what he said was a “lack of investment” in Philadelphia.
The vice president, who came to Philadelphia aboard Air Force One, said he was there to discuss the “issues the President is facing in this city.”
“This country’s been through a few times where we’ve had people in Washington, D.C., step forward and use money to do the right thing,” Biden said. “There’s no question that we need more and more help from the federal government, especially in cities like Philadelphia, and particularly in smaller cities, which cannot get the same kind of resources because of the size of the city and the size of the problems that they have.”
In an interview with Philadelphia news site Daily News Politics, Biden said he would “take a look at” a plan to use tax dollars to get more cops on the street.
“We can talk about how we bring them in,” he said. “The President’s going to bring them in. We can talk about how we bring them in. We can talk about how we bring them in. We can talk about how we bring them in.” “We can talk about how we bring them in,” he continued, “but the bottom line