Former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenHillicon Valley: Biden calls on Facebook to change political speech rules | Dems demand hearings after Georgia election chaos | Microsoft stops selling facial recognition tech to police Trump finalizing executive order calling on police to use ‘force with compassion’ The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook MORE told wealthy donors at a Tuesday evening fundraiser that he does not want to “demonize” wealth because he finds “rich people are just as patriotic as poor people.”
“Remember I got in trouble with some of the people on my team, on the Democratic side,” the Democratic front-runner said. “Because I said, ‘You know what I’ve found is rich people are just as patriotic as poor people.’ Not a joke. I mean, we may not want to demonize anybody who has made money,” Biden told 100 supporters at the Manhattan event.
ADVERTISEMENT
The comments come as a several of Biden’s opponents for the Democratic presidential nomination have focused on wealth disparity in the U.S., vowing to boost taxes on the wealthiest Americans to pay for policies they say seek to close economic gaps.
“We can disagree in the margins, but the truth of the matter is it’s all within our wheelhouse and nobody has to be punished. No one’s standard of living will change, nothing would fundamentally change,” Biden said.
The former vice president appeared to take a veiled swipe at Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersThe Hill’s 12:30 Report: Milley apologizes for church photo-op Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness MORE (I-Vt.), a self-proclaimed democratic socialist and the primary competitor polling closest to Biden most often, over his goal of a “political revolution,” suggesting his policies may overreach in trying to buoy low-income families.
“When we have income inequality as large as we have in the United States today, it brews and ferments political discord and basic revolution,” Biden said.
Click Here: camiseta rosario central
He went on to jab at President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE, saying economic disparity “allows demagogues to step in and say the reason where we are is because of the other, the other.”
“You’re not the other,” he added. “I need you very badly. I hope if I win this nomination, I won’t let you down.”
Biden has cast himself as a centrist in a primary field while several other top contenders are seeking to appeal to the party’s progressive flank, which seeks action against an expanding income gap between working-class Americans and the nation’s top earners.