Biden uses his whisper AGAIN to tell Americans 'it's time to give ordinary people a tax break' as he touts his $973billion infrastructure deal to blue-collar workers in Wisconsin - then stops for another ice cream
President Biden deployed his stage whisper during a speech in Wisconsin on Tuesday as he went about selling his infrastructure deal to the public and outlining plans to give tax breaks to ordinary families.
It was a standout moment as he described the urgent need for a 'generational investment' and looked to persuade voters of the economic benefits of a $973 billion bipartisan package.
After explaining how families would get a check for $3600 for each child under six and $3000 for each one under 12, he said he would accused of delivering giveaways.
He dropped his voice and leaned into the microphone to deliver a conspiratorial word to people watching at home.
'Hey guys, I think it's time to give ordinary people a tax break,' he whispered.
'The wealthy are doing fine.'
President Biden dropped his voice and moved close to the microphone during his speech on infrastructure, using a rhetorical trick he has deployed in several recent appearances. 'Hey guys, I think it's time to give ordinary people a tax break,' he whispered. 'The wealthy are doing fine'
The visit was part of Biden's effort to sell his huge spending plan to voters and keep up momentum after securing Republican support for a compromise infrastructure plan
Biden delivered his speech after touring a public transit center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He discussed the benefits of electric buses with employees and how Wisconsin winters damage the city’s roads
'Don't jump,' joked Biden when he saw Mike La Fleur, the superintendent of streets for Municipal Transport, sitting high on a paving machine. It is one of the president's go-to jokes whenever he sees someone at the top of a ladder, stairs on on machinery
The small audience at a public transit center in La Crosse, Wisconsin, loved it, breaking into loud applause.
The whisper has become a key part of Biden's rhetorical arsenal. He used it in his joint address to Congress and last week in a question and answer session with reporters.
Critics have labeled the effect 'creepy.' Yet it has become a go-to trick at moments when he wants to quietly suggest he has got one over on his more fiscally conservative opponents.
During the speech he explained how Wisconsin would benefit from the deal, including funds for electric buses, the replacement of some 80,000 lead water lines in Milwaukee and high-speed internet.
He said it would include $109 billion in funding for roads, bridges and other major construction projects.
'This is a generational investment to modernize our infrastructure, creating millions of good-paying jobs, and position America to compete with the rest of the world in the 21st century,' he said.
He also set out his plans to pay for the program, including a hike in corporate tax rates and ensuring that companies could not take their profits offshore.
Biden stopped for ice cream before heading for home. 'Oh, you guys got everything,' he said as he examined the menu
When Biden gave up sweets for Lent, he said ice cream would be the first thing he would have once it was over
Biden stopped for ice cream before heading home to Washington. He shied from ordering rocky road flavor, and instead plumped for scoops of strawberry and of cookies and cream
He promised that the plan would not increase tax on gasoline or raise taxes for Americans earning less than $400,000 a year.
The result, he said, was a 'blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America.'
After his speech, he made an impromptu stop for ice cream before returning to Washington.
He laughed off suggestions that he should order the rocky road flavor for infrastructure saying, 'It's been a rocky road, but we're going to get it done, before ordering scoops of strawberry and of cookies and cream.
The visit was all part of the president's effort to maintain momentum that led to a deal with Republicans last week, a push that Congressional leaders believe must be sustained into the second half of July.
That timetable could see legislation passed and sent to the White House by the end of September.
West Wing officials have this week held calls with more than 60 Democratic and Republican members of Congress and their aides, according to Press Secretary Jen Psaki who briefed reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to Wisconsin.
At the weekend, Biden was forced to back down from a threat not to sign a bipartisan bill unless it came with a separate package of 'human infrastructure' spending, including expanded home care for the elderly and disabled.
Republicans reacted furiously which would have put the bipartisan bill in jeopardy, given the 50-50 split in the Senate.
Former President Trump weighed in just before Biden spoke, accusing Republicans of selling out.
'So sad to see certain RINO Republican Senators go back and forth to the White House and continually get nothing for infrastructure or anything else,' he said, using an abbreviation for 'Republicans in Name Only.'
'When will they learn that they are being played with, and used by, the radical left - and only bad things can happen.'