Joe Biden says people vote for Trump because he is 'racist', labels him a 'charlatan' for dividing American people
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden took on President Donald Trump, his foremost rival this political season, at a surprise fundraiser in Windermere, Florida, on Monday, October 29, making an explosive remark that the primary reason why voters back the Republican is because he is a "racist".
Akin to his party colleague Hillary Clinton's controversial remark made in the 2016 election that "half" of Trump's supporters are in a "basket of deplorables", the former vice president said Americans who support Trump "like him because of the issues."
"They like him because of the tax cut, they like him because he's a racist — whatever the reason is, they like him." On the occasion, Hillary had even called Trump's supporters "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it," and faced a massive backlash.
Biden had recently found himself embattled along with his son Hunter over past connections with Ukraine as Trump accused them of indulging in corruption.
He said although many of the president's supporters are motivated by prejudice, there are still people who are afraid and even supported former president Barack Obama at one point.
"And they tend to be people who work in working-class jobs. We talk about them as if they must all be racist. But these same folks voted for a black guy and an Irishman," Biden said while addressing a crowd of roughly 80 supporters.
He even took on Hillary, with whom he otherwise has a good relation, saying she had failed to address these voters during her campaign three years ago.
"He's a charlatan"
Biden called the 2020 election as the "most important" one irrespective of the voters' age and it is not because he is contesting but because of Trump who he slammed as a "charlatan".
"We have seen this before… He's a charlatan who has done what charlatans in the past have done, divide the American people," he said.
He also attacked Trump on his foreign policy moves saying he is clueless about what he says and alleged that he made a "Faustian bargain" with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to give him control of the Kurdish regions in Syria.
According to Biden, it undermined America's fight against the Islamic State despite the recent death of its leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
The 76-year-old also spoke about the recent slump his position has seen in surveys and put the blame on attacks he is facing because he is "not a socialist".
The Democratic presidential race has become tight between Biden, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
The Democratic presidential primary in Florida takes place on March 17, 2020.