Joe Biden’s campaign was caught sharing a deceptively edited transcript of President Donald Trump’s “very fine people on both sides” comments about the 2017 Charlottesville rally, Breitbart reported.
The Democratic Party frontrunner’s campaign omitted President Trump’s condemnation of “white supremacists and neo-Nazis” after the Unite the Right rally turned deadly. Biden spokesperson Bill Russo posted a partial transcript of Trump’s comments to falsely suggest the president was praising white supremacists.
Biden campaign omits Trump’s condemnation of white nationalists
Russo posted a section of Trump’s remarks with the “very fine people” phrase highlighted. Taken alone, they appear to show Trump equivocating between white nationalists and counter-protesters who opposed them.
Breitbart responded with the missing context, in which Trump specifically said, “I’m not talking about the Neo-Nazis and the White nationalists because they should be condemned totally.” Trump appeared to distinguish between white nationalists and other people who gathered to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
Why did you need to omit this? pic.twitter.com/k26qetCCmu
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 8, 2019
Nevertheless, the “very fine people” quotation has become an unassailable myth on the left and Biden, among others, has repeatedly invoked the “very fine people” claim. His campaign posted the transcript after Breitbart reporter Joel Pollak confronted Biden in Iowa, saying that he was misquoting Trump.
The Democrat was defiant, angrily insisting that Trump had indeed praised white nationalists.
“No, he did not. He said, he walked out and he said … let’s get this straight,” Biden said. “He said there were ‘very fine people’ in both groups. They’re chanting anti-Semitic slogans, carrying flags,” he added, before walking off.
President Trump’s campaign responded to Biden’s comments by pointing to CNN’s Jake Tapper, who agreed that Trump was “not saying that the neo-Nazis and white supremacists are very fine people.” However, Biden has continually trotted out the dishonest claim. Charlottesville and the “very fine people” quote featured prominently in Biden’s campaign launch video, and he intended to start his campaign in the city until critics complained that he was capitalizing on a tragedy to score political points.
Biden holding strong, despite gaffes
Biden has made numerous gaffes and public flubs, including a racist slip while campaigning in Iowa Thursday where he said that “poor kids are just as bright, just as talented as white kids.” Also on Thursday, Biden mistakenly referred to former U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May as Reagan-era leader Margaret Thatcher, who has been dead for many years.
Still, Biden’s polling numbers are holding strong, despite his numerous blunders and criticism of his policy record. The Democrat was ganged up on by his Democratic contenders during his July 31 debate over his support of the 1994 crime bill, deportations of illegal immigrants during the Obama era, and other issues.
Meanwhile, Trump has faced renewed accusations from his opponents of stoking white supremacist violence after an anti-immigrant shooter killed more than 20 people in El Paso, Texas last weekend. Biden immediately attacked Trump in the wake of the shooting, accusing him of using the presidency to “encourage and embolden white supremacy.”
Trump condemned “racism, bigotry, and white supremacism” and urged rejection of hate in a speech from the White House Monday. “These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in America,” he said. “Hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart and devours the soul.”
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