Democratic Presidential candidate former vice president Joe Biden speaks to guests during a campaign stop at the RiverCenter on October 16, 2019 in Davenport, Iowa. Scott Olson | Getty Images

Former Vice President Joe Biden accused President Donald Trump on Wednesday of ignoring middle-class interests and endangering economic growth as he made his case for the White House in a key 2020 battleground state. Biden returned to his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, to mount an argument against Trump's economy hours before Trump was schedule to appear across the state in Pittsburgh. He said the president has looked out for the interests of the wealthy rather than the working class by passing a tax plan that largely benefits richer Americans and corporations and by watering down Obama administration rules designed to protect workers. Trump has pointed to strong U.S. economic numbers — like the unemployment rate and gross domestic product growth — as he makes his case for reelection in 2020. Democrats hoping to challenge him have argued the president's policies have not boosted prosperity for the middle class despite the statistics. "If you're going to restore the middle class, you're going to need to start to reward work again, not just wealth," Biden said during a 45-minute address. "Donald Trump inherited a strong economy from Barack and me. Things were beginning to really move. And just like everything else he's inherited, he's in the midst of squandering it." The former vice president aimed to contrast his economic vision from Trump's in a key electoral state that is also essential to the brand he has long tried to cultivate as "Middle Class Joe." Biden promoted his plan for a public health-care option, which he said would reduce costs for middle-class Americans, and his proposal to improve public education and cut college costs to improve job opportunities.

He also said he would reverse parts of the the 2017 Trump-backed Republican tax plan that favor the wealthy and corporations. Biden said he would raise the U.S. corporate tax rate to 28% from the current 21%. (The rate stood at 35% before the GOP law cut it). "The wealthy didn't need [the tax cuts] in the first place. The corporations have spent them on stock buybacks," Biden said. Biden's speech, which also targeted the president for a lack of "empathy," precedes a Trump event later in the day. The president will speak in Pittsburgh at a shale industry conference, as he touts his efforts to promote a U.S. natural gas industry that many Democrats have proposed to regulate more tightly in order to combat climate change. In a statement responding to Biden's speech, Trump campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany highlighted Biden's past support for both the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, trade deals that she called "disastrous." "Job-killing Joe Biden is clueless as to how to win for America's workers while President Trump has verifiable results," she said.

The power of Pennsylvania