Trump says Biden ‘deserted’ Pennsylvania. In Scranton, he’s a ‘hometown boy.’
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In the 1950s, Scranton, Pa., was at the start of a long, slow decline. The coal mines that had fueled the city’s early prosperity were shutting down, leaving residents to cope with gaping sinkholes and a scarred landscape. Textile factories, too, were on their way out, and thousands of people picked up and left for better opportunities elsewhere. Joining the exodus were 10-year-old Joe Biden and his family. Unable to find a steady source of work, Biden’s father, Joe Sr., had been commuting to Wilmington, Del., to clean boilers. By 1953, he decided it was time to move the whole family across the state lines.
Biden, who was in grade school at the time, presumably didn’t have much say in the matter. But that didn’t stop President Trump from declaring on Monday night that the Democratic presidential contender had abandoned Pennsylvania.
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