In a fiery critique, former President Joe Biden lambasted Donald Trump, accusing the former president of tarnishing the White House with a costly $300 million project. Biden made these remarks during the Ben Nelson Gala, hosted by the Nebraska Democratic Party on Friday evening, as he criticized Trump’s new ballroom addition.
Addressing the audience, the 82-year-old Democrat questioned, “Has anyone seen what he’s done to the East Wing of the People’s House?” His voice grew louder, resonating with the audience’s enthusiastic response.
Biden emphasized, “It’s a fitting emblem of his presidency. Trump isn’t just dismantling the People’s House, but also our Constitution, the rule of law, and the essence of our democracy. Who does he think he is?”
This speech signified a spirited return for Biden, who has been undergoing treatment for a severe form of prostate cancer. Despite his health challenges, he displayed glimpses of his former vigor and passionate indignation.
Although his voice occasionally wavered, the audience remained engaged and supportive throughout the 30-minute speech, applauding his calls to mend America’s divides and uphold democratic principles.
Though his voice occasionally faltered, the crowd was on its feet throughout the 30-minute address, cheering as he spoke about repairing America’s divisions and defending democratic norms.
‘What we have to do is repair our faults, and that’s what we began to do on Tuesday,’ he shouted, referencing this week’s Democratic victories in key races across the country.
It was Biden’s second public appearance in a week, and his first purely political event since Labor Day 2024, when he appeared alongside then Vice President Kamala Harris at a union rally in Pittsburgh, two months before the presidential election that saw Trump reclaim the Oval Office.
In a fiery return to the political stage, Joe Biden tore into Donald Trump on Friday night, accusing his successor of defacing ‘the People’s House’ with a $300 million vanity project thundering, ‘Who in the hell does he think he is?’
Biden launched his sharpest attack yet on Trump’s controversial demolition of the East Wing of the White House
An excavator sits on the rubble after the East Wing of the White House was demolished on October 28 in Washington, DC
Friday’s rally, however, was not about Biden’s own comeback bid but about rallying his party’s base.
Biden’s remarks came amid a growing furor over Trump’s decision to demolish the entire East Wing of the White House, a move that shocked historians, preservationists, and political opponents alike.
Trump began the teardown last month to make way for a giant 90,000-square-foot ballroom, nearly twice the size of the White House itself.
The Republican president has long insisted the 1,000-seat ballroom is necessary for large state dinners and events that currently require temporary tents on the South Lawn.
But the destruction of the East Wing, which housed offices for First Ladies, a family theater, and Jacqueline Kennedy’s memorial garden, has been condemned as a symbol of excess and disregard for tradition.
The public learned of the project on October 20, when photos of construction crews ripping into the building began circulating online.
Within days, the East Wing was reduced to rubble including the covered walkway and historic garden.
Trump, a billionaire real-estate developer before entering politics, defended the move as part of his vision to ‘modernize’ the Executive Mansion.
Friday’s rally, however, was not about Biden’s own comeback bid but about rallying his party’s base
The demolition is part of Donald Trump’s plan to build a ballroom on the east side of the White House
A satellite view shows the East Wing of the White House after being demolished
He said he had decided, after consulting with architects, that ‘really knocking it down’ was preferable to a partial renovation.
‘It won’t interfere with the current building,’ Trump insisted in July. ‘It’ll be near it but not touching it.’
By October, he changed course. ‘Really knocking it down,’ he said Wednesday, was ‘the better option.’
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later confirmed that the ballroom’s cost had ballooned from $200 million to $300 million, but claimed taxpayers would not be paying for it.
