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Washington, Oct. 11 (PTI): US President Donald Trump has alleged that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in his previous capacities as Senator and vice president was busy shipping jobs to China, prompting the latter to hit back.
Biden said Trump will be the first president in modern American history to "leave office with fewer jobs than when it began".
Making his first public address from Blue Room Balcony of the White House after being discharged from hospital where he was treated for Covid-19 infection, Trump charged Biden and his campaign of taking the country on the path of socialism, which he vowed would not let him do.
"The Democrats' is a socialist program and platform -- and it really is more than socialist. It's not just socialist; it's beyond socialism," he said.
As one member from the audience screamed "communist", Trump said, "Communist. That's about right."
Biden, who was campaigning in Erie city in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, on the other hand alleged that Trump was only protecting the interests of the rich and billionaires.
"The Trump presidency will be the first presidency in modern American history to leave office with fewer jobs than when it began. And President Trump is leaving us a 'K-shaped' recession, where those at the top keep going up, while everyone in the middle and below are seeing things get worse," Biden said.
"It means that while the top 100 billionaires in America have done pretty well, they're up more than USD 300 billion this year -- you get the bottom half of that K-shape. The downward slide. Because the fact is, President Trump can only see the world from Park Avenue. I see the world from Scranton. From Erie. And that's who my Build Back Better agenda is for," he said.
The Democratic presidential candidate's campaign does not allow a large gathering because of Covid-19 restrictions, with at the most a score of people sitting at a distance.
On the other hand, Trump's first public event at the White House was full of enthusiasm and energy with his black and Hispanic supporters chanting "We Love You" and "Four More Years".
Trump, 74, and First Lady Melania, 50, tested positive for COVID-19 last week. The president was taken to a military hospital for treatment. After spending four days there, he came back to the White House on Monday.
His White House address on Saturday to "Peaceful Protest for Law and Order" was described as an official event, but had all the inklings of an election campaign.
"We're starting very, very big with our rallies and with our everything, because we cannot allow our country to become a socialist nation. We cannot let that happen," Trump said.
"Black and Latino Americans are rejecting the radical socialist left, and they're embracing our pro-jobs, pro-worker, pro-police -- we want law and order; we have to have law and order -- and pro-American agenda." he said.
Trump alleged the agenda of the Democrats was "much beyond socialism" and they had been "shipping jobs to China for half a century".
"Sleepy Joe Biden has betrayed black and Latino Americans. If you think he can run this country, you're wrong... For half a century shipping your jobs to China. That's what they've been doing. We are bringing the jobs back. We have been charging China a lot of money too, with the tariffs. Billions and billions of dollars," Trump added.