MANCHESTER, N.H. – Former Secretary of State John Kerry stopped by Joe Biden’s Manchester campaign office on Sunday evening to reiterate the case on why Biden’s leadership is needed in today’s world and how current President Donald Trump has utterly failed in his duties.
Kerry told assembled Biden campaign volunteers that former president Barack Obama said choosing Biden as his vice president was the best decision during his eight years in the White House
He added that opinion came from Biden’s legislative experience, also adding that Biden’s foreign relations experience would stand in sharp contrast to Trump, who he said let Iran decide whether the United States would go to war earlier this month.
“It takes time to build relationships abroad. Yes, there is a certain currency that comes with just being the United States, but leaders need to know they can trust you. Leaders need to know you’re someone committed to values that they can stake their own political decisions on,” said Kerry. “Joe Biden on Day One, Day One, knows what lever to pull, what leader to call, what first name to call them, what relationship to have. He can build on that and make our world a lot safer.”
Kerry also attacked Trump and groups associated with Trump for their efforts that have led to the ongoing impeachment proceedings, referring to the attacks as falsehoods and comparing them to efforts used to smear him in 2004 and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Former Manchester Mayor Bob Baines was on hand to hear the speech.
Baines, a supporter of Kerry in 2004 and an early supporter of Biden, referred to Kerry as a man of impeccable character and echoed Kerry’s sentiments about Biden.
“I think people across New Hampshire realize that if you’re going to beat Donald Trump, you have to have Joe Biden,” said Baines. “There are volunteers out there coming to my door and I tell them I appreciate what they’re doing, but I tell them that the only person I think can beat Donald Trump at this point, and things could change, is Joe Biden.”
Politico’s Trent Spiner reported that Biden did not take questions from reporters or voters during his most recent trip. Kerry also did not have a planned question-and-answer period for reporters or voters during this event due to what campaign staff described as time constraints, excluding an interview Kerry provided to WMUR prior to the event.
