CHICAGO — Former President Joe Biden sought Tuesday to use an audience in Chicago of national advocates for the disabled to reestablish himself as a leading party voice to challenge the actions of President Donald Trump amid listless Democratic leadership in taking on Biden’s successor in the White House.

“Look what’s happening. In fewer than 100 days this administration has done so much damage and so much destruction,” Biden said, citing Trump administration-ordered job cuts in the Social Security Administration.

In his first major speaking appearance since leaving office in January, Biden spoke for nearly a half hour before about 130 members of Advocates, Counselors, and Representatives for the Disabled at a downtown Chicago hotel. He never used Trump’s name. But he frequently assailed the current administration and contended it was creating “profound” psychological fears among the elderly over potential cuts and access to Social Security disability benefits.

“The psychological effect is profound,” Biden said. “Many of these beneficiaries, it’s their only income. If it were cut or taken away, the psychological pressure by having this debate is absolutely devastating.”

Trump has promised not to cut Social Security benefits as part of plans to find savings in the federal budget in part to extend tax cuts granted during his first term. But Republicans who control Congress are under pressure to find savings, fueling Democratic warnings about distrust of Trump and that Social Security and Medicaid, health care for the poor, could be on the chopping block.

Recounting some of the familiar family phrases he frequently used during his aborted reelection campaign, Biden asked of Republicans, “What the hell are they thinking” in considering any reduction of benefits for the elderly.

“Social Security is more than just a government program. It’s a sacred promise, and it’s remained a sacred promise,” he said.

American workers “paid into Social Security and they count on Social Security to be there for them when they’re going to need it,” he said. “We must never ever betray that trust and turn our backs on that obligation.”

Biden likened the actions of the current administration to the traditional motto of technology startups: “Move fast. Break things.”

“Well, they’re breaking things. They’re shooting first and aiming later,” he said, reading off a teleprompter. “One of most important jobs of an elected official is to make sure that government works for the people.”

During his speech, Biden also criticized some of the findings of Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency that have falsely contended Social Security benefits were being sent to people over 150 years old to as much as 300 years old.

“I want to meet them,” Biden said while joking about his own age as he lamented the problems of “being 40.”

He also mocked the comments of Trump’s commerce secretary, billionaire Howard Lutnick, who said on a podcast last month that his 94-year-old mother-in-law “wouldn’t call and complain” if she missed a Social Security check.

“OK. Her son-in-law is a billionaire. What about that 94-year-old mother that is all by herself?” Biden asked.

Biden’s reemergence on the political scene has raised questions among some Democrats nationally who are eager to move past the 82-year-old former president and last year’s presidential campaign. Biden dropped out of the race in July, giving little time for Vice President Kamala Harris to accept the Democratic nomination and make her case to voters.

Biden’s decision to speak out against the current administration runs counter to the tradition that former presidents stay out of the public eye to voice criticisms in the early months of a succeeding administration. But just as Trump has symbolized the upending of longstanding political norms, the chaotic early days of his second term over issues such as tariffs and federal budget cuts has prompted Democrats to look for ways to speak out against him, and many Democratic voters have expressed frustration that party leaders haven’t done enough.

Biden’s appearance also coincided with House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries’ declaration of Tuesday as a “Save Social Security Day of Action” for his members, using the congressional break for them to voice concerns about potential threats to Social Security by Trump, Musk and DOGE.

“Donald Trump, Elon Musk and House Republicans think that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme,” Jeffries said, contending they are dismantling access to the benefits by closing Social Security regional offices and limiting access over ways to apply for them.

It was Biden’s first major speaking appearance since leaving office Jan. 20 after Trump bested Harris. Earlier this month, the former president spoke to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Washington and in March went to the Model United Nations conference in New York.

It also was Biden’s first public appearance in Chicago since August, when planners for the Democratic National Convention were forced to shift strategy after he ended his reelection bid in order to promote Harris as the newly minted nominee.

A party elder as a longtime senator, vice president to Barack Obama and then president, instead of celebrating a final-night renomination, Biden was relegated to the opening night of the convention as the party sought to move quickly into the presidential race with Harris.

Biden in recent months has sought to move back into the national conversation, including meeting with top party officials. But hard feelings remain among some Democrats over Biden’s late decision to leave the race and hobbling the party with a nominee who, though vice president, was not widely known in trying to appeal to voters beyond the party faithful.

Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, an avid Biden backer who later raised questions about his viability as a candidate last year after a stumbling debate performance against Trump, downplayed to reporters at an unrelated event the significance of Biden’s visit.

“As I’ve always said about President Biden, he wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s someone who has great empathy. And I think in his post-presidency, what a perfect thing for him to be doing, honestly, to be meeting with people with disabilities, organizations that stand up for them and highlighting Social Security, which is under attack by the new administration,” said Pritzker, who has become a leading national Democratic voice in attacking Trump.

“So I’m glad he’s in town. And I don’t think he’s surfacing the way you’re describing to bring attention to himself. I think he’s doing what he does and has always done throughout, I think a 50-, 60-year career, which is to do the right thing for people that he cares for,” said Pritzker, himself a potential 2028 presidential contender.

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(Tribune reporter Jeremy Gorner contributed.)

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