Democratic nominee Joe Biden called President Donald Trump a 'climate arsonist,' saying the president's climate change denial is what's really threatening the suburbs.
'Donald Trump warned integration is threatening our suburbs. That's ridiculous. But you know what is actually threatening our suburbs?' Biden said Monday outside the Delaware Museum of Natural History. 'Wildfires are burning the suburbs in the west, floods are wiping out suburban neighborhoods in the midwest, hurricanes are imperiling suburban life along our coast.'
Biden's comments came as Trump was traveling to California to see damage from the wildfires and as the president has tried to push that his Democratic opponent would 'destroy' the suburbs, pointing to an Obama-era fair housing rule.
Democratic nominee Joe Biden said Monday that it's President Donald Trump who's threatening American suburbs, thanks to his climate change denial
Joe Biden had to swat a fly off his jacket at one point during his speech, joking to reporters, 'Speaking of the environment,' as he made the motion
On Monday, Jill (left) and Joe Biden (right) voted early in Delaware's state primary election. Registered voters could schedule a time to come in
Jill Biden was sporting black knee-high Stuart Weitzman boots that spelled 'VOTE' down her calf
The Democratic nominee stopped to answer a few questions, asking his wife Jill (right) and surrounding aides where he was headed Tuesday. The Trump campaign already released the clip as a hit against Biden's sharpness
In Wilmington, Biden opened up by pointing to the four concurrent crises that are happening under Trump's watch: COVID-19 and the economic collapse that the pandemic caused, 'emboldend white supremacy' and climate change.
Biden told his small audience of reporters, who were kept separated by rings on the ground and told to wear masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus, that Monday's remarks would be dedicated to climate and served as a prebuttal to the president's California trip.
And at one point, he had to slap off a fly that landed on his jacket, joking, 'Sorry, there was a bug. Speaking of the environment!'
'We have to act as a nation,' Biden implored. 'It shouldn't be so bad that millions of Americans live in the shadow of an orange sky and are left asking, is doomsday here?'
He said that Trump's actions on climate - such as pulling out of the Paris climate agreement - 'amounts to a full surrender,' language Biden also used to describe the president's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump has clapped back and said it's Biden who wants a 'surrender' on COVID, accusing the Democrat of trying to shut down the country again - a proposal Biden hasn't backed.
On Monday, Biden, again, ridiculed some of Trump's anti-green energy rhetoric - such as his claim that windmills cause cancer and his complaint that eco-friendly lightbulbs turn him 'orange.'
'This is the same president who threw paper towels at the people of Puerto Rico,' Biden recalled.
The Democrat warned just how bad it could be if Trump is re-elected.
'If he gets a second term these hellish events will become more common, more devastating and more deadly,' Biden said, speaking of the recent wildfires, floods and coastal storms.
'We have four more years of Trump's climate denial, how many suburbs will be burned by wildfires? How many suburban neighborhoods will have been flooded out? How many suburbs will have been blown away in superstorms?' Biden asked.
'To give a climate arsonist four more years in the White House, why would anyone be surprised when we had more of America ablaze?' the former vice president said.
Biden pitched a number of job-creating initiatives that could help the environment.
He said he wanted to build 1.5 million new energy efficient homes and public housing units, which could eliminate the country's housing shortage, increase energy efficiency and 'reduce ... the racial wealth gap linked to homeownership.'
Biden also said 250,000 could be created simply by putting people to work to plug abandoned oil and gas wells. 'Good union jobs for energy workers,' he said.
He also floated building a 'civilian climate corps.'
And in light of disasters like in Flint, Michigan, Biden said he wanted to ensure Americans had clean water and air.
'Fulfilling this basic obligation to to all Americans, especially in low income white, black, brown and Native American communities who too often don't have the clean air and the clean water,' he said.
Biden has put out a full-scale climate plan and had supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders help draft some joint proposals, but he hasn't backed the so-called 'Green New Deal.'
Joe Biden spoke in a field outside the Delaware Museum of Natural History, where his audience of reporters were kept six feet apart from one another using giant rings
Earlier Monday, the Democratic nominee and his wife Jill - who sported black knee-high Stuart Weitzman boots that spelled 'VOTE' down her calf - voted early in Delaware's Democratic primary.
Registered voters in the state could book a time to vote, allowing for proper social distancing.
'Vote. Vote. Vote,' Biden said as he emerged from casting his ballot.
He indicated that he had voted for Sen. Chris Coons in the Democratic Senate primary.
'I like Coons the best. He's a great, great senator,' Biden said.
Coons had spoken on his behalf during last month's Democratic National Convention.
Biden was also asked if he had confidence that all votes would be counted in November.
'I have confidence that Trump will try to not have that happen, but I'm confident the American public is going to insist on it,' the former vice president replied.
Biden encouraged Americans to vote early and explained why he decided to cast his ballot in person a day before Delaware's Tuesday primary.
'Because I'm going to be - where am I tomorrow?' the candidate asked, directing the question toward his aides and his wife.
'Florida,' Jill Biden answered, according to the pool report.
The Democratic nominee will travel to Florida on Tuesday and then return to his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, Thursday before heading to Minnesota on Friday.
'I'm traveling tomorrow,' Biden said.
The Trump campaign quickly pushed out the video clip of Biden asking his wife and staff where he was headed, as more evidence that the 77-year-old is not all there.
Both the Biden and Trump camps have questioned the fitness of the opposing presidential candidate, with team Biden showing Trump awkwardly tip-toeing down a ramp at West Point in June in pro-Biden ads.
The Trump team has focused on Biden's over-reliance on a teleprompter during his events.
The former vice president used one Monday for his speech.
He didn't hold a formal press conference, but did speak to several reporters as he exited.
Biden said in Florida he would 'talk about how I am going to work like the devil to make sure I turn every Latino and Hispanic vote.'
Recent polls showed Biden in a weaker position in Florida among Latinos than Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was four years ago.
Biden was asked if he could explain this phenomenon.
The ex-vice president answered that his Latino support was 'much higher' than Trump's, 'But they gotta go higher.'
Another reporter asked if the gloves were now off in the presidential race, with just 50 days to go.
'Yes,' Biden replied and then left.
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