Joe Biden stumbled over his words during a speech at Investing in Nevada.
The US President went to Las Vegas on Friday to say he’s “putting high-speed rail on the fast track,” and he used the moment to blast Donald Trump — his predecessor and likely 2024 challenger — as a do-nothing politician.
“Trump just talks the talk. We walk the walk,” Biden said at a hall for unionised carpenters.
“He likes to say America is a failing nation. Frankly, he doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. I see shovels in the ground, cranes in the sky. People hard at work rebuilding America together.”
He said: “Over a billion three hundred million trillion three hundred million dollars!”
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The president showcased $8.2 billion in new federal funding for 10 major passenger rail projects across the country.
He also emphasized the fundamental differences between Trump and himself, a sign that his policy speeches are taking an ever greater political bent with the election now roughly 11 months away.
The Democrat said Trump “failed” to deliver on his promises to invest in U.S. infrastructure.
Biden countered that his rail funding could help to connect Las Vegas to Los Angeles via high-speed trains before LA hosts the summer Olympics in 2028, slashing travel times, helping the environment and creating jobs.
Biden hopes that investment through federal and state partnership programs will help to boost prospects for the long-discussed project, which supporters say could revitalize travel in the American West but critics argue is too costly.
The 218-mile (350.8-kilometer) train route linking Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga, California, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of downtown Los Angeles, may one day serve more than 11 million passengers annually.
Another electric rail line getting funding has been billed as the nation’s first high-speed route and is eventually planned to traverse California’s Central Valley and extend to San Francisco and on to Los Angeles, with trains reaching up to 220 mph (354 kph).
The funding highlighted by the president won’t be nearly enough to cover the full costs of either project, but signals the Biden administration’s commitment to spurring train travel in a nation that has long celebrated the spirit of fast cars and open highways.
