Biden calls Trump 'what a loser' at Democratic fundraiser

Former US President Joe Biden on Saturday night launched a blistering attack on President Donald Trump at a Maryland Democratic Party fundraiser. Addressing donors at a casino event, Biden called his successor a "what a loser" and accused him of unprecedented corruption and narcissism.

Vanity projects and insults

Speaking to the crowd for approximately 10 minutes, Biden focused particular attention on Trump's reported renovation plans for the White House. "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 Center, building an arch in his own honor, even hiring his own pool guy to fix the reflecting pool. Woah! What a loser," he said. The remarks marked Biden's most forceful public critique of the current administration since leaving office.

Capitol riot stance

The former president reserved particular scorn for Trump's position regarding the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot participants. "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. He added that the rioters did not deserve compensation, stating that "they deserve to be put in jail for a long, long, long time."

Corruption accusations

Biden employed the White House reflecting pool as a metaphor for administrative decay, saying that "the reflecting pool reflects something even worse than the narcissism and incompetence at the core of this administration." He continued: "It's the corruption, the corruption, the brazen, blatant corruption. Corruption on a scale never seen before in American history in any administration." Saturday's fundraiser marked one of Biden's first major political appearances since Trump returned to the White House in January.