Vice President Joe Biden declared that Donald Trump has “no clue, period” in a Democratic National Convention speech tailored toward the working-class white men who have gravitated toward the GOP nominee.
Biden began his pitch for Hillary Clinton by lauding his boss, President Obama, as “the embodiment of honor, resolve and character” and “one of the finest presidents we have ever had.”
He also recalled that, at previous Dem conventions, his late son Beau had placed his name in VP nomination.
“All of you, your love, your prayers, your support — but you know what, we talk about, we think about the countless thousands of other people, who suffered so much more than we have, with so much less support,” Biden said.
“So much less reason to go on. But they get up, every morning, everyday. They put one foot in front of the other. They keep going. That’s the unbreakable spirit of the people of America. That’s who we are.”
Biden argued that “if you live in the neighborhoods like the one Jill and I grew up in, if you worry about your job and getting a decent pay, if you worry about your children’s education, if you’re taken care of an elderly parent, then there’s only one, only one person in this election who will help you.”
“…Ladies and gentlemen, to state the obvious and I’m not trying to be a wise guy here. I really mean it. That’s not Donald Trump’s story. Just listen to me a second without booing or cheering. I mean this sincerely, we should really think about this. His cynicism is unbounded,” he added.
“His lack of empathy and compassion can be summed up in a phrase that I suspect he’s most proud of having made famous, you’re fired. I mean really, I’m not joking. Think about that. Think about that. Think about everything you learned as a child, no matter where you were raised. How can there be pleasure in saying, you’re fired? He’s trying to tell us, he cares about the middle class, give me a break. That’s a bunch of malarkey.”
Biden resurrected his “middle-class Joe” nickname and acknowledged it means he’s “not sophisticated.”
“But I know why we’re strong. I know why we have held together. I know why, we are united. It’s because there’s always been a growing middle class. This guy doesn’t have a clue about the middle class, not a clue,” he continued.
“Because, folks, when the middle class does well, when the middle class does well, the rich do very well and the poor have hope. They have a way up. He has no clue about what makes America great. Actually he has no clue, period.”
The vice president stressed “we cannot elect a man who exploits our fears of ISIS and other terrorists.”
“Who has no plan whatsoever to make us safer. A man who embraces the tactics of our enemies, torture, religious intolerance, you all know. All the Republicans know, that’s not who we are. It betrays our values. It alienates those who we need in the fight against ISIS,” Biden said. “Donald Trump, with all his rhetoric, would literally make us less safe.”
“We cannot elect a man, who belittles are closest allies, why embracing dictators like Vladimir Putin. No, I mean that. A man who seeks to sow division in America for his own gain, and disorder around the world. A man who confuses bluster with strength. We simply cannot let that happen as Americans, period.”
Biden said he was “more optimistic” than when he was elected to the Senate at age 29, because “given a fair shot, given a fair chance, Americans have never, ever, ever, ever, let their country down. Never.”
“We’ve had candidates before attempted to get elected appealing to our fears, but they never succeeded, because we do not scare easily,” he added.
Trump directly responded to some speakers on the first night of the convention, but didn’t tweet directly at any of the speakers Wednesday night.
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