Joe Biden tells country that ‘Wall Street didn’t build’ the US in pro-union joint session speech

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Joe Biden told the country that “Wall Street didn’t build” the United States in a pro-union joint session speech to Congress.

The president delivered his first speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night and touted the achievements of his administration’s first 100 days.

Mr Biden said that “America is on the move again” after a series of crises, including the pandemic and the insurrection at the Capitol, which he called “the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.”

And the president addressed the economic impact of the pandemic in an attempt to reach out to those Americans who “feel left behind and forgotten in an economy that’s rapidly changing.”

“Let me speak directly to you. Independent experts estimate the American Jobs Plan will add millions of jobs and trillions of dollars in economic growth for years to come,” he said. Excerpts of the speech were released ahead of delivery by the White House.

“These are good-paying jobs that can’t be outsourced. Nearly 90 per cent of the infrastructure jobs created in the American Jobs Plan don’t require a college degree. Seventy five per cent don’t require an associate’s degree.

“The Americans Jobs Plan is a blue-collar blueprint to build America. And, it recognises something I’ve always said: Wall Street didn’t build this country. The middle class built this country. And unions built the middle class.”

Just 200 lawmakers attended the speech because of Covid-19 protocols.

As this was Mr Biden’s first address, it was not technically called a “State of the Union” speech but a a joint address to Congress.

New presidents have not called their first speech before a joint session of Congress a “State of the Union” since 1977.