5 conclusions from the CNN forum with Joe Biden | CNN

This is how Biden would handle the use of masks 0:43

(CNN) -

Joe Biden called the United States unsafe under President Donald Trump and said it could unite the country, on a CNN forum Thursday night less than two weeks before his first debate.

The forum was held like a drive-in movie, underscoring the campaign's unprecedented final months.

This, after the coronavirus pandemic led Biden's campaign to suspend public indoor rallies.

Biden and CNN moderator Anderson Cooper stood onstage, and people asking questions parked their cars around them and approached the microphones near the stage.

During the event, the Democratic presidential candidate mocked Trump's claims that Biden's election would lead to widespread violence and chaos on the streets of America, and particularly in the suburbs.

And he touted his own ability to unify the country, pointing to his record as a senator and saying he never questions the motives of his political opponents.

I'm not going to be a Democratic president.

I'm going to be the president of the United States, ”Biden said.

Here are five takeaways from Joe Biden's CNN forum in Scranton, Pennsylvania:

Scranton vs.

Park Ave.

Biden sought to frame the voters' choice around a new message: his hometown of Scranton, which represents American salaried and blue-collar workers, and Park Avenue, home to a wealthy few who benefit from the labor of others.

"I see this campaign as a campaign between Scranton and Park Avenue," Biden said.

“All Trump can see from Park Avenue is Wall Street.

All he thinks about is the stock market. "

It was an attack aimed at Trump's handling of the economy, an area where polls have shown the president outperforming his overall numbers.

Biden characterized Trump's economic record as one that has benefited the rich but ignored the working class.

“In my Scranton neighborhood, not many people (have stocks).

We have to make sure that healthcare workers receive a decent pay and salary.

US $ 15 an hour?

It's not enough for a healthcare worker, ”Biden said.

READ

: Biden: «I don't trust President Trump about vaccines.

I trust Dr. Fauci »

Joe Biden resists progressive priorities

Biden defended himself against more progressive rivals in the Democratic primary and showed late Thursday that he resists pressure to adopt some of the left's priorities that could hurt him politically.

He insisted that he would not end fracking for natural gas, a major industry in the swing states of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

And when an interrogator who voted for Trump in 2016 said that Biden had adopted the Green New Deal as part of his climate change platform, the former vice president said she was wrong.

"I have my own pact," he told Cooper in response to a question about the Green New Deal, pointing to a climate agenda that his campaign negotiated with allies of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and later adopted as its platform by the Democratic National Committee.

Defying Barr's inflammatory comments

The former vice president mentioned Attorney General William Barr's recent comment while addressing a Constitution Day celebration hosted by Hillsdale College that the closures to combat the coronavirus were the "biggest intrusion on civil liberties" in the city. history "apart from slavery."

"What Bill Barr said recently is outrageous," Biden said, echoing other Democrats who had condemned Barr's comment on Thursday.

«I'll tell you what takes away your freedom: not being able to see your son, not being able to go to the football or baseball game, not seeing your sick mother or father in the hospital, not being able to do things, that's what we it is costing our freedom.

It was part of Biden's effort to keep the electorate focused on Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and the costs that have accrued in the wake of the revelations in Bob Woodward's new book that Trump had learned in February about the dangers. of the virus, but downplayed them publicly.

"It was the failure of this president to deal with this virus, and he knew what it was like," Biden said.

He knew the details.

I knew it in no uncertain terms.

This is what Biden would do to get the kids back to school 0:52

A stark contrast to Trump

The most glaring differences between Biden and Trump are often stylistic.

On Thursday night, Biden showed empathy and, in comments on cancer and his son Beau Biden, humanity.

Trump, in an ABC forum earlier in the week, often questioned the premises of voter questions.

Joe Biden's sharpest moment on Thursday night on the CNN forum could have come when he condemned Trump's characterization, reported by

, of the war-killed and wounded as "losers" and "fools."

Biden said he was offended by Trump's comment, which he said applied to "guys like my son," referring to Beau Biden, who was on tour in Iraq with the Delaware National Guard while he was the state attorney general.

Speaking of losers, Biden added angrily.

LEE

: The director of the CDC affirms that the masks would be more effective than vaccines and Trump does not agree

I don't trust the president about vaccines.

I trust Dr. Fauci »: Joe Biden to CNN

Biden continued to question Trump's claims that a coronavirus vaccine will be ready, or close to being, in time for the November 3 general election.

But, she said, she would trust the timelines and steps detailed by Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

I don't trust the president about vaccines.

I trust Dr. Fauci, ”Biden said.

"If Fauci says a vaccine is safe, I would take the vaccine.

We should listen to the scientists, not the president.

His comment comes as the Trump campaign and its allies have alleged that by questioning the president's claims about the vaccine, Biden is undermining confidence in a potential vaccine.

Meanwhile, Biden says Trump is trying to claim that the panacea is just around the corner to mitigate the political fallout from his handling of the virus long enough to win a second term.

CNN forums