The former president, now a far less popular figure in his party, appeared in Nebraska for an overtly political speech that slammed his successor.
Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. lashed out on Friday at his successor, delivering an impassioned address in which he warned that the country was in a “very, very dark moment” and said President Trump had acted “in a way that embarrasses us as a nation.”
Mr. Biden, speaking at a Nebraska Democratic Party fund-raising dinner in Omaha, condemned Mr. Trump for “deliberately making hunger worse for America” and accused him of taking a “wrecking ball” to the White House, the Constitution and the rule of law while enriching his own family.
“The American people are sending a message, are sending the message — message to Trump and to his crowd,” Mr. Biden said, at times shouting or meandering as he often did during the later years of his presidency. “I just want you to know, you work for us, Mr. President. We don’t work for you.”
In his first overtly political speech since leaving office, Mr. Biden warned that the nation had slipped into difficult times — but said this week’s elections were a reason for optimism.
“Folks, look, this isn’t a golden age,” Mr. Biden said. “The fact of the matter is that it is a very, very dark moment. But you know, the fact of the matter is, we’re in a situation where we had something very special happen just last Tuesday.”
A White House official did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since Mr. Biden left office, many Democrats have appeared eager to move on from him. He was absent from the recent campaigns for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, even as former President Barack Obama was invited to appear at arena rallies last weekend in those states.
A handful of Democrats have visited his homes in Delaware, but few have chosen to publicize their meetings. Gov. Bob Ferguson of Washington State stopped to play chess with Mr. Biden last month, and Ken Martin, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, visited the former president the day after winning an election to lead the party apparatus.
In his 30-minute remarks in Omaha, Mr. Biden, 82, cycled through some of his greatest hits. He spoke about how unions had helped build the middle class, exaggerated (“I was on the Foreign Relations Committee when I was 24 years old”) and sprinkled a dozen instances of “folks” throughout his remarks.
He called for reopening the federal government and ending the shutdown and spoke movingly about his experience battling prostate cancer. He saved his harshest criticisms of Mr. Trump for his cuts to funding for cancer research and other health care.
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