'Go vote for someone else': Joe Biden in hot water again after 'aggresive' behavior with Iowa supporter
Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden is having quite an eventful campaign as the Iowa caucuses are drawing closer. The former vice-president had two ugly experiences in Iowa and New Hampshire — two of the earliest states that will go to the primary polling — while interacting with the audience and just a few days ahead of the Iowa caucuses, he had yet another confrontation with a voter.
On January 28, a voter in the Hawkeye State asked Biden to not support the building of new pipelines and the 77-year-old countered him, saying: “Go vote for someone else”.
Biden aggressively prodded the voter in his chest while confronting him after the candidate pressed him about his take on the climate change issue. He then seemed to hold the man by his lapels. The man, identified as Ed Fallon, served in Iowa general assembly and leads an organization working on climate crisis, according to The Independent.
In a video of Biden’s engagement with the Iowan that went viral, the latter said he would support the veteran candidate in the November 3 election against President Donald Trump but added that he planned to back billionaire candidate Tom Steyer in the primary. Steyer found a place on the stage during the last Democratic debate in Des Moines on January 14 where he stressed a lot on the issue of climate.
“I’m going to support you if you win the nomination because we’ve got to get rid of Trump, but what are we going to do about climate change?” Fallon asked Biden. “You say you’re against pipelines, but then you want to replace these gas lines. That’s not going to work.”
To this, Biden responded: “You need to go vote for somebody else. You’re not going to vote for me in the primary.”
Fallon countered, saying he would vote for him in the general election if Biden treated him the right way. Biden then thought it was his major rival in the nomination race, Bernie Sanders, who the man was eyeing to back.
“Now, you believe that Bernie can do something by 2030,” the former Delaware senator said, mocking the 78-year-old Sanders who would become 89 that year.
But Fallon surprised Biden, saying, “I’m actually supporting Tom Steyer."
“Tom Steyer? Well, that’s good,” Biden replied.
Steyer slams Biden's approach
Steyer, who was critical of Biden’s approach, tweeted, saying it was not the right way to treat an Iowan. He meant that by treating voters like that, the Democrats were only hurting their own prospects of beating Trump in this year’s election.
“He said he’d vote for the Dem in the general b/c he knows how important it is to beat Trump. We need immediate action on climate. If you don’t agree, happy to talk @ debate. But don’t take it out on voters we need to win in Nov,” said the 62-year-old New York-born billionaire who produced an impressive performance in Des Moines despite being an underdog.
In early December, Biden called an elderly voter in Iowa “damn liar” after he asked him questions over the corruption charges against him and his son, Hunter Biden, in Ukraine. He also confronted a woman interviewer over the matter some days later. Later that month, another person from the audience at an event in New Hampshire called the former vice-president a “pervert” over his awkward approach towards women and girls. Biden, however, maintained his composure on that occasion.
Meanwhile, according to an Associated Press report, Biden stopped short of saying on Tuesday that Sanders could successfully unite the Democratic Party if the Vermont senator won the party’s presidential nomination.
Speaking in Muscatine in Iowa, the Democratic candidate told reporters that he was not going to make judgments now. “I just think that it depends upon how we treat one another between now and the time we have a nominee,” he said.
Previously, he had promised to support the Democratic nominee regardless of who it is. He even had pledged to “work like hell” to see any of his rivals beat the incumbent president.