Joe Biden speaks to the press at the Erie International Airport in Erie, Pennsylvania before returning to Delaware on October 10, 2020. (AFP photo)

US Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has hit Republican Donald Trump on economy in a key battleground county of Pennsylvania, saying the president is only pretending to care about the working-class voters.

The former vice president made the remarks during his visit on Saturday to Erie County, a historically Democratic area in Pennsylvania that narrowly swung for Trump in 2016, where he continued his efforts to win back voters who had formerly supported him and Barack Obama.

He emphasized the differences between him and Trump on issues including the economy, the handling of the coronavirus pandemic and their ability to unite the country.

Anyone who actually does an honest day’s work sees him and his promises for what they are, Biden told a masked, socially distanced crowd at a training facility for plumbers and other tradespeople.

He went on to say that workers across the US had been gutted by President Trump’s broken promises and reckless trade wars.

Folks, this is it. The election is here, he said during his 11th trip to Pennsylvania since early summer. The choice couldn’t be more stark, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

He then accused Trump of being able only to see the world from Park Avenue, while he said his perspective was from Scranton, a comparison he has tried to drive home recently.

He also warned that Trump was trying to destroy the Affordable Care Act amid the worsening coronavirus pandemic that is increasing the need for access to health-care coverage.

America deserves a president who understands what people are going through, Biden said. You’re facing real challenges right now, and the last thing you need is a president who exacerbates them.

He also tried to show off his knowledge of apprentice programs and underlined the role that tradespeople play in the larger economy.

If every investment banker in New York went on strike, nothing would much change in America, but if every plumber decided to stop working, every electrician, the country would come to a halt.

The opinion polls do not look good for Trump and he is down by about 10 points nationally and in almost all of the swing states to Biden.

Also, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, Biden holds a 17-point lead over Trump in trust to handle the coronavirus pandemic.