Biden pushes plan to lower rents, blasts Trump in Nevada

Biden has been making stops in a host of battleground states since sharply criticizing Trump in his State of the Union address this month, while laying out ideas he hopes to implement if given a second, four-year term. With worries about high rents and mortgage interest rates contributing to voters' sour views about the economy, Biden said his administration was expanding clean energy jobs, lowering healthcare costs and growing the economy.

U.S. President Joe Biden highlighted his plans to lower housing costs during stops in Nevada on Tuesday, taking aim at high rental costs and blasting former President Donald Trump for threatening to "undo everything we've done."

"We need housing that's affordable," Biden said in Las Vegas. "For too many people, the dream of having a home - it feels out of reach." Speaking in Reno earlier, Biden said he was confident he would beat Trump, his Republican rival, in November's presidential election rematch. The Democrat later on Tuesday continues on to Arizona, another battleground state that could prove crucial to his bid to stay in the White House.

"Support around the country is real," Biden said in a stop at a campaign headquarters in Reno, noting that over 1.3 million people had contributed to his campaign. "We're going to beat him again," said the president. Biden has been making stops in a host of battleground states since sharply criticizing Trump in his State of the Union address this month, while laying out ideas he hopes to implement if given a second, four-year term.

With worries about high rents and mortgage interest rates contributing to voters' sour views about the economy, Biden said his administration was expanding clean energy jobs, lowering healthcare costs and growing the economy. White House officials, meanwhile, blamed Trump's administration for not taking enough action on housing costs.

For his part, Trump has lambasted Biden for his economic policies and for presiding over inflation in multiple sectors of the economy, which has stung voters nationwide. Trump has proposed carving new "freedom cities" out of federal land, partly to provide new housing options. "Nevada families are being crushed by Joe Biden's failures, from historic inflation and an open border to skyrocketing overdose deaths across the state," said Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley. "Nevadans want results, not lip service."

Biden's housing plan, which would require congressional passage, includes a $10,000 mortgage relief tax credit for first-time homebuyers and a $10,000 tax credit for people selling "starter" homes in an effort to free up housing inventory at the lower end of the market. His plan also calls for tax credits to build more housing units, efforts to fight "rent gouging by corporate landlords," and an expansion of a low-income housing tax credit program, according to the White House.

Congress is unlikely to pass major legislation in an election year, but the president's discussion of the topic reflects his administration's awareness of the impact it could have on his reelection hopes. After the National Association of Realtors agreed last week to resolve antitrust litigation accusing brokerages of inflating sales commissions, Biden called on them to "follow through and lower commissions."

After his remarks in Las Vegas, Biden will travel on to Arizona, where he will make remarks at a Mexican restaurant in the Phoenix area and launch a group dedicated to engaging Latino voters, according to his campaign. Biden campaign officials are working to mobilize minority voters, including Latinos and Black people, to help him win in what are expected to be close races in the swing states that will decide who prevails in the November election.

The president has faced anger from younger voters and Arab Americans over his support for Israel in its war against Hamas militants in Gaza. That generated significant protest votes of "uncommitted" by Democrats in primary elections in Michigan, Minnesota, Hawaii and North Carolina in the past two months. Arizona's Abandon Biden campaign is urging voters in the Southwestern state to vote for author Marianne Williamson in the Democratic primary, which was being held on Tuesday, since "uncommitted" is not an option there.

Biden won Arizona in 2020 by just 10,457 votes, and studies estimate that Muslims make up about 1% to 1.5% of the state's population of nearly 8 million people.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)