Dr. Jill Biden promotes her husband’s plans in Greensburg stop
Katherine Mansfield/For the Observer-Reporter
Dr. Jill Biden met with some members of the business community in the Greensburg area on Wedensday.
Katherine Mansfield/For the Observer-Reporter
Dr. Jill Biden is pictured with members of the DeFabo family, who own Rizzo’s Malabar Inn in Crabtree, Westmoreland County, and Greensburg area business owners and local officials Wednesday during a whistle-stop in Western Pennsylvania.
Katherine Mansfield/For the Observer-Reporter
Dr. Jill Biden called the Greensburg area business owners “the backbone of your community,” and said her husband will provide leadership in the fight against COVID-19 and get the country back on course during a stop in Southwestern Pennsylvania on Wednesday.
Katherine Mansfield/For the Observer-Reporter
Dr. Jill Biden talks with Mary Frances DeFabo, one of the owners of Rizzo’s Malabar Inn in Crabtree, Westmoreland County, on Wednesday.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s favorite food is Italian, but it was his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, who stopped by Rizzo’s Malabar Inn, an Italian restaurant in Crabtree, Westmoreland County, on the couple’s whistle-stop tour through Ohio and Western Pennsylvania on Wednesday.
There, Biden met with owners Jerry and Mary Frances DeFabo and family members who work at the fifth-generation restaurant, along with local officials and business owners to talk about her husband’s “Build Back Better” plan to help Pennsylvania’s economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have got to get rid of the chaos. We have to get rid of the pandemic and bring back businesses,” said Biden, who listened as the DeFabos talked about how the pandemic has damaged their business, forcing them to cancel weddings, funerals and charity events and lay off employees.
“It’s been tough, said Jerry DeFabo. “We tried to bring as many of the employees to work as we possibly could before we got into a situation where we were spending money just for no reason.”
Hairstylist Christina Zilli and Ian Petrulli, vice president of Holiday Travel International, North Huntington, also shared with Biden how their businesses have been negatively impacted by the virus.
Biden called the business owners “the backbone of your community,” and said her husband will provide leadership in the fight against COVID-19 and get the country back on course.
“If you can just hang in there for 34 more days, I can promise you it will all get better,” she said.
Biden said the former vice president will be a president for all Americans, not just Democrats.
Pennsylvania has become an important battleground state in the presidential election, and since the beginning of June, Joe Biden has made eight trips to the state.
The Bidens made four stops in Southwestern Pennsylvania on the train tour, ending with a drive-in rally in Johnstown, where Joe Biden planned to highlight his plan for economic recovery. The presidential candidate was in nearby New Alexandria while his wife was in Crabtree.
Jill Biden acknowledged how important Pennsylvania – which Donald Trump won in 2016 – and this region are to her husband in his bid to win the presidency.
“We’re here in Pennsylvania because we’re not taking any vote for granted,” said Biden. “I’ve especially been going to all the small towns talking to people, like everybody here today, small business owners, that feel forgotten.”
Also attending the gathering was Christina O’Brien, Westmoreland County prothonotary, who suffers from lupus and has spent most of the past six months in her home.
O’Brien said she has felt like a “disposable American” throughout the pandemic.
“I feel like the attitude is just, ‘We’ll set aside all the elderly people and the ill people, they’re going to die anyway, and we’ll just go on with our lives.’ It’s insulting,” said O’Brien. “I’m not done, I’m still fighting, I”m still living my life. I have a family who loves me dearly, who would do anything to keep me alive. I’m not disposable.”
Biden addressed Tuesday’s rancorous debate, and said Americans have a choice on Nov. 3 to move in a different direction.
“What you saw on that stage was someone, my husband, who spoke to the American people, and spoke about his policies, spoke about their lives and what they’re going through and what he would offer them, whether it’s health care, education, or climate change,” she said. “So either people have the choice of my husband, or they have that other chaos that we’re in right now, that we’re feeling right now.”