Biden thanks union workers in Las Vegas for their support

President Joe Biden wrapped up his visit to Las Vegas meeting with members of Culinary Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165 on Monday morning, thanking them for their support and the work they do.

When unions do well, everybody does well, Biden told union members in a Vdara employee cafeteria.

Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge walked alongside the president as he mingled with housekeepers and other Culinary union members.

Reps. Dina Titus and Susie Lee, both Nevada Democrats, were also present.

Biden, who is on the ballot for Tuesday’s presidential preference primary, spoke about the importance of growing the economy from the middle out and the bottom up, arguing that trickle-down economics did not work. He talked about corporate greed and the roles unions have played in expanding the middle class.

His visit with hotel and casino workers was part of a two-day stint campaigning ahead of the primary, where he will appear on the ballot alongside candidates Marianne Williamson and Jason Palmer. On Sunday, he held a rally in the Historic Westside, touting his accomplishments as president.

The president also made a stop at a No. 1 Boba Tea in Las Vegas’ Chinatown Monday, ordering an original boba milk tea, before heading back to Harry Reid International Airport. He was joined by Reps. Titus and Lee, as well as several Nevada Democratic legislators.

On a radio show Monday, Trump said he wanted to debate Biden immediately. In response, Biden said, with a boba tea in his hand, “If I were him, I’d want to debate me, too. He got nothing else to do.”

Biden also discussed the Senate’s proposed border deal and foreign aid package, which would make systemic changes to the country’s immigration system, as well as give billions of dollars of aid to Ukraine and Israel.

The package, which will send $20 billion to immigration enforcement and provide money to hire more officers and Border Patrol agents and implement tougher standards for asylum, has received strong opposition from Republicans in both the Senate and House.

Biden encouraged Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said on X the package would be dead on arrival if it reaches the House, to pay attention to what the Senate is doing.

He said the border is “out of control,” and everything in the bill provides more control while also meeting the needs of people crossing the border. He said there are not enough immigration agents and judges, Biden said, although he also expressed disappointment that a provision for dreamers — immigrants whose parents brought them across the border illegally as children — was not included in the package.

“We need help,” he said. “Why won’t they give me the help?”

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.