CNN reports:
Former Vice President Joe Biden expressed deep skepticism of the leftward tilt of the Democratic Party in an exclusive interview with CNN airing Friday.
Biden, speaking with CNN’s Chris Cuomo in Des Moines, Iowa, suggested that “Medicare for All” is irrational, argued that the majority of Democrats are “center left” not “way left,” and said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, while “brilliant” and “bright,” did not represent Democrats who can win a general election in a competitive district or state.
The interview made clear that Biden, who is facing criticism from the left of the party amid an increasingly contentious Democratic primary, does not feel the need to sway to the left to capture the party’s base and, instead, hopes to set himself apart by embracing his moderation.
Biden: “I think Ocasio-Cortez is a brilliant, bright woman, but she won a primary. In the general election fights, who won? Mainstream Democrats who are very progressive on social issues, and very strong on education, health care.” https://t.co/F8L4wlRkWN pic.twitter.com/sTO5RXCj34
— CNN (@CNN) July 5, 2019
Biden: “If you provide an option for anybody who in fact wants to buy into Medicare for All, they can buy in… But if they like their employer-based insurance, which a lot of unions broke their neck to get… they shouldn’t have to give it up” https://t.co/tDM9CsVNv8 pic.twitter.com/sQw4q65gou
— CNN (@CNN) July 5, 2019
Biden says he wasn’t prepared for Kamala Harris to confront him on issues of race during the first Democratic debate: “I was prepared for them to come after me, but I wasn’t prepared for the person coming at me the way she came at me. She knew Beau (Biden) and she knows me” pic.twitter.com/LYNIB82IMc
— CNN (@CNN) July 5, 2019
Biden to @ChrisCuomo on Trump: “I mean the idea that I’d be intimidated by Donald Trump, he’s the bully that I knew my whole life. He’s the bully that I’ve always stood up to. He’s the bully who used to make fun, when I was a kid, of a stutter, and I smacked him in the mouth.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 5, 2019
Biden says he’s not going to use Dem candidates’ past against them. “I get all this information about other people’s pasts, and what they’ve done and not done. And you know, I’m just not going to go there. … We should be debating what we do from here.” https://t.co/K7551CB3Ew
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 5, 2019