GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden discussed his plans for building back the economy after the downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden spoke at the United Food & Commercial Workers Union in Grand Rapids on Friday afternoon.
He emphasized the pandemic's disproportionate impact on women and how it amplified what was already a struggling manufacturing industry, including in Michigan.
"Michigan has lost more than 361,000 jobs since the beginning of 2017," Biden said. "In fact, factories were already closing before COVID, like the Knoll plant here in Grand Rapids. It announced back in January it was shutting down and cutting 210 local jobs."
The former U.S. vice president said he plans to make "bold investments" to help build back communities.
He wants to raise taxes on people making more than $400,000 per year.
"Anyone making less than $400,000 a year won't pay a penny more," Biden said. "I'm going to ask the very big corporations, the Fortune 500, the very wealthy, to pay their fair share for a change."
His plans also include a $15 minimum wage, free public college and directing revitalization funds in competitive grants to help communities compete for new business start-ups.
"No one should be in a position where you have to work two jobs just to get above the poverty line," Biden said.
Community colleges would be free for everyone and four-year state universities would be tuition-free for any family making less than $125,000 per year.
In a one-on-one interview, Biden said he hopes President Donald Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis convinces people who haven't done so to take the pandemic seriously and wear a mask.
Watch the one-on-one interview:
Watch the speech:
