Former VP Biden Makes Surprise Stop At Allegheny Co. Executive Rich Fitzgerald's Re-Election Celebration
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Supporters of newly-reelected Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald welcomed a surprise visitor to his victory party Tuesday night on the South Side.
Fitzgerald defeated Republican challenger Matt Drozd for what will be a third and final term as the county's executive. He is now term limited.
Fitzgerald's supporters gathered at the IBEW Hall to watch election results come in, and as they celebrated their candidate's re-election, former Vice President Joe Biden dropped in for a visit.
Biden is no stranger to Pittsburgh. The Democrat was here for his first campaign stop after announcing his current bid for president in April.
This time around, Biden was in town for a private fundraiser for his 2020 presidential campaign. Afterward, he dropped by to see Fitzgerald and spoke to the gathered crowd.
Fitzgerald told his supporters that Biden supports working class people.
"He's for working people," Fitzgerald said. "He's always been for the building trades and steel workers, mine workers, for working class individuals, who quite frankly, as Democrats, we lost in the last election. Joe wants to win them back, and coming here tonight shows his support for working class people."
At his own fundraiser earlier, Biden reportedly had some pointed remarks for some of this fellow Democrats.
Our news partners at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report that Biden called out "condescending" Democrats who believe it's their way "or the highway."
Speaking at the Omni William Penn Hotel Tuesday, Biden said "There's no way to beat Donald Trump if we don't start talking about what we're for and why you can be extremely progressive but not be off the wall ... and [why you can't be] extremely progressive but not be socialist."
Biden also had some tough words for President Trump, saying he has no "moral center," according to the Post-Gazette.
This is the third time Biden is running for president.
Biden, who was born in Scranton, has made several campaign stops in Pennsylvania, as he is among 17 Democrats running for president in the 2020 election.