Topline
Former President Joe Biden called President Donald Trump a “loser” after criticizing his successor’s attempts to remake Washington, D.C. landmarks on Saturday night, telling a crowd at a Democratic Party gala the ongoing drama over the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was indicative of the Trump administration’s “corruption.”
Key Facts
During a keynote address at a Maryland Democratic Party gala on Saturday night, Biden targeted what he called Trump’s “vanity projects” in Washington, D.C., mentioning his planned triumphal arch, the renaming of the Kennedy Center and the demolition of the East Wing to make room for a ballroom.
Biden also criticized Trump for “hiring his own pool guy to fix the reflecting pool,” possibly referring to comments Trump himself first made in April when he told reporters the pool would be renovated by a contractor who previously worked on a pool at one of his golf clubs.
The line got laughter and applause from the crowd of Maryland Democrats, prompting Biden to respond with “whoa, what a loser.”
Biden said the ongoing Reflecting Pool saga was indicative of “narcissism and incompetence at the core of this administration,” as well as “blatant corruption.”
The gala took place exactly two years after Biden and Trump last met on the debate stage, which turned out to be a disastrous performance for the former president, prompting him to drop out of the 2024 presidential race weeks later.
Contra
Trump has repeatedly tried to shift blame for the Reflecting Pool onto Biden himself. He has repeatedly claimed Biden and former President Barack Obama spent “over 100 Million Dollars” on renovations to the Reflecting Pool, and even threatened to sue ABC News for “false reporting” for failing to mention this. However, Trump’s assertions don’t hold up to scrutiny—Obama spent about $34 million on renovations to the Reflecting Pool in 2012, the Associated Press reported, which ultimately failed to prevent algae from returning to the basin. While Biden was president, the National Parks Service estimated a “full rehabilitation” would cost about $100 million, but the administration ultimately did not move forward with the plan.
Tangent
Biden, 83, was diagnosed with late-stage prostate cancer last year. The former president made no comments about his health on stage on Saturday night, but his keynote speech only lasted about 10 minutes in total. Trump made Biden’s age and mental fitness a major target during the last presidential campaign, and has continued to lambast the former president as “Sleepy Joe” throughout his second term. Trump turned 80 earlier this month and will overtake Biden as the oldest president in office when his second term ends.
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