Biden calls Trump corrupt and incompetent at Maryland fundraiser

WASHINGTON: Former US president Joe Biden used a Democratic Party fundraiser in Maryland on Saturday night to launch a sharp attack on President Donald Trump, accusing his successor of corruption, incompetence and self-obsession.

In a 10-minute speech delivered at a casino in Maryland, Biden said Trump’s conduct in office went beyond what he described as vanity-driven projects at the White House and other institutions. He listed what he said were moves by Trump to tear down the East Wing to make space for a ballroom, place his name on the Kennedy Centre, build an arch in his own honour and hire his own pool contractor for the reflecting pool.

"It’s not just his vanity projects, tearing down the East Wing of the White House, making room for his ballroom, putting his name on the Kennedy Centre, building an arch in his own honour, even hiring his own pool guy to fix the reflecting pool. Woah! What a loser," Biden said at the event.

Biden said the reflecting pool symbolised what he called deeper problems inside the administration."The reflecting pool reflects something even worse than the narcissism and incompetence at the core of this administration,"he said. "It’s the corruption, the corruption, the brazen, blatant corruption. Corruption on a scale never seen before in American history in any administration."

He also criticised what he said was Trump’s desire to compensate those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol." What makes me angry is that Trump wants to give taxpayers’ money, your money, to the January 6th insurrectionists. That’s what he wants to do," Biden told the crowd. "These people don’t deserve to be compensated. They deserve to be put in jail for a long, long, long time."