President Biden on Wednesday launched another push to sell his economic agenda and convince skeptical voters that the economy is thriving under his watch, highlighting a message White House officials see as critical to his 2024 election prospects.

Speaking in the cavernous lobby of the Old Post Office in downtown Chicago, the president laid out his vision for “Bidenomics,” a collective noun for his strategy to boost the middle class through federal investment and foster competition

in order

to reduce costs for working families.

He sought to contrast his plan with the trickle-down economics embraced by his predecessor and potential 2024 opponent, former President Trump. The trickle-down theory, made famous by former President Reagan, focused on cutting taxes and relaxing regulations.

“This view is a fundamental break from economic theory that has failed the American middle class for decades. It’s called trickle-down economics,” he said in what the White House announced as a major speech. “It has failed America. It has inflated the deficit and increased inequality. It has weakened our infrastructure.”

The comments were part of a broader effort by the White House to portray Biden as the architect of an economy that has set expectations of a recession and continues to demonstrate a resilient labor market. The latest economic numbers give the White House reason to brag. Unemployment remains at 3.7%, while inflation eased to 4% from a high of 9.1% last June. But fears of an impending recession remain looming as prices have slowed their decline from previous highs.

Last week, the Federal Reserve halted its series of rate hikes for the first time in its 18-month campaign to raise interest rates

on

inflation. But on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned that the aggressive campaign would continue because of a strong job market.

“More restrictions are coming,” Powell said at a monetary policy forum in Sintra, Portugal.

White House officials complain that the president is not credited with the economic recovery under his leadership. Biden’s handling of the economy has been a persistent thorn in his side since inflation hit a 40-year high last summer.

Only 34% of American adults approve of how they handle the economy, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released Wednesday. Similarly, a CBS News poll released in June found only 36%

per cent

approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, compared to 64% who disapprove.

The president has repeatedly blamed rising food and gas prices on the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, but Republicans argue that Biden’s government spending led to the record high inflation that has bogged down Americans for the past two years.

“I’m not here to declare victory for the economy. I’m here to say we have a plan that changes things incredibly quickly,” Biden said in Wednesday’s speech. “We have more work to do.”

On Monday, senior White House advisers Anita Dunn and Mike Donilon released a four-page memo outlining the president’s economic approach to building an economy “from the bottom up and the center out.” They called Biden’s quest to turn the page in the era of trickle-down economics “the defining project of the Biden presidency.”

During his speech in Chicago, Biden attempted to explain his economic outlook, arguing that it was rooted in “investing in Americans, because if we invest in our people

,

we strengthen the middle class. We see the economy growing. That benefits all Americans.”

Biden’s speech follows an event at the White House on Monday to highlight the more than $42 billion

distributed assigned

for states to spend on high-speed internet projects through the bipartisan infrastructure bill he championed. California received nearly $1.9 billion as part of the program.

The White House is deploying its top officials across the country to promote Bidenomics and the benefits of sweeping economic legislation enacted since Biden took office, including the $1

–

trillion-dollar infrastructure bill, $52.7 billion to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing, and the president’s signature climate and drug pricing bill to boost clean energy projects.

Although Biden’s speech was an official event, it was difficult

Unpleasant

ignore politics. After the speech, Biden attended a fundraiser organized by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker at JW Marriot

t hotel

. The minimum donation was $3,300, while a photo with the president came with the $25,000 price tag.

Folks, I’m really looking forward to this campaign,” Biden told donors. ‘And do you know why? Because we actually have a story to tell.”

According to Doug Sosnik, former senior adviser to President Clinton, Biden has no choice but to challenge his record.

Biden’s vigorous embrace of his economic record indicates that

the White House is confident that Americans will soon begin to see the effects of this

record efforts

.

“There is enough time for the audience to feel the impact of his performance,” said Sosnik. “He just has to stick with a sharp and repetitive message.”