President Biden took a couple of swipes at former President Donald Trump at a star-studded Radio City Music Hall gala that the campaign said raised a record $26 million for his re-election campaign.
Riffing off Trump’s bragging about winning his own golf tournament, Biden boasted that he is in far better shape and could thrash his Republican rival on the links.
“I told him: ‘I’ll give you three strokes but you carry your own bag,’” Biden said in a clip released by his campaign.
The 81-year-old Biden later got in another dig about Trump’s fitness — while accusing Trump of being out of touch with America.
“All the things he’s doing are old. A little old and out of shape,” Biden said in another clip.
The jibes at Trump mark an aggressive new approach for Biden, who is enjoying an upswing in polls since he and Trump wrapped up their party nominations. The two men are now firmly headed for a Titanic fall rematch of their 2020 street fight that Biden won.
Biden’s campaign said it scooped $26 million windfall from the gala, just outstripping projections it would bring in $25 million.
Reveling in the supportive company of former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Biden was serenaded by pop superstar Lizzo, praised by Democratic heavyweights like Sen. Chuck Schumer and cheered by thousands of small-dollar donors and supporters. The event was reportedly interrupted by protesters against Biden’s position on the Israel-Hamas war, with pro-Palestinian demonstrators shoxuting at the president, according to Reuters.
He poked fun of himself by suggesting his presidency took place in their long shadows of his two popular Democratic predecessors.
“For the first two years — for real — every time I’ve been introduced and they play ‘Hail to the Chief,’ I turn around and say, ‘Where the hell are they?’” Biden joked.
Biden derided Trump as a threat to American democracy who tried to overturn the 2020 election with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
He also ticked off a laundry list of issues that Democrats believe will catapult him to four more years in the White House including abortion rights, reducing drug costs and his signature infrastructure act.
Seeking to turn the age issue on its head, Biden closed out the triumphant night by joking about his predilection for youthful fads like aviator sunglasses.
He touted the muscular “Dark Brandon” alter ego that his supporters roll out whenever critics claim he is too old.
“(I’m a guy who) loves two things: Ray Ban sunglasses and ice cream,” Biden said. “By the way, Dark Brandon is real.”
Trump sought to counter Biden’s fundraiser by making a brief appearance hours earlier at the Long Island wake for slain NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, where he repeated his trademark call for law and order.
His campaign says it hopes to raise $33 million at a fundraiser targeting GOP megadonors next month.
Biden and Democrats enjoy an outsized edge in the money race with more than twice the cash on hand as Trump and Republicans at the end of February.
