Shapiro, Casey back Biden, agree he is best candidate for President

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WILKES-BARRE — Gov. Josh Shapiro in Scranton and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey in Wilkes-Barre on Monday both showed solid support for President Joe Biden and they agreed he is the best candidate for President, despite a less than impressive debate performance last week.

Shapiro repeated many of the same sentiments he voiced on Friday, the day after the Presidential debate between Biden and Republican challenger Donald Trump.

Shapiro appeared on CNN and MSNBC morning shows to urge Democrats to “stop worrying and start working.”

“He had a bad debate,” Shapiro said. “But that doesn’t change fact that Donald Trump was a bad president who drove our economy into the ditch and who exasperated false claims about climate change and who lied about his past and the kinds of things he’s proposing for the future. There is still a clear contrast between the two candidates and the debate did not change that.”

Shapiro said women in the U.S. should not have to worry if Trump is given the keys to the White House again.

“And the middle class should not have to worry about being screwed if Trump is in charge again,” Shapiro said. “Democrats have to continue to prosecute the case against Trump.”

Shapiro said America must decide whether they want to return to the “dark days of Trump” or move forward to a “more fair, more just society” under Biden.

Asked if he felt Biden could withstand the rigors of a campaign and four more years in office, Shapiro said, “Joe Biden is up to the job.”

Casey, who held a roundtable discussion in Wilkes-Barre on women’s rights, echoed many of the same points made by Shapiro.

“I support Joe Biden,” Casey said. “A lot of Democrats do, and Independents and even some Republicans. We have to get to the voters and show them what is at stake in this election.”

Like Shapiro, Casey said Biden had a bad debate and leave it at that.

Supreme Court ruling

Case and Shapiro also addressed the Supreme Court ruling on Monday that extended the delay in the criminal case against Trump on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election, reducing the chance that Trump could be tried before the November election.

In a historic ruling, the justices said Monday for the first time that former presidents can be shielded from prosecution for at least some of what they do in the Oval Office.

But rather than do it themselves, the justices ordered lower courts to figure out precisely how to apply the decision to Trump’s case.

Shapiro said that “248 years ago this week, our nation was founded by group of patriots seeking to free themselves from tyranny and a monarchy that held itself above the law.

“No one should be above the law in this country — but today, a Supreme Court packed with Donald Trump’s hand picked justices deeply undermined that fundamental tenet of our democracy.

“We must remain committed to the guiding principles that have made this country a beacon of liberty — and we must continue the work of generations of Americans who came before us as we fight to protect our democracy and perfect our union.”

After the roundtable discussion, Casey said most Americans would agree that “no elected official — including the President — should be able to engage in whatever conduct or activities they want to engage in unfettered or without constraint.”

Casey added, “But we might have future presidents who would do the same, so I’m very concerned about what we already know about this case. We have to make sure that elected officials are always held accountable.”