Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday sought to clarify his remarks this week that many saw as a subtle endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton.
Biden said Tuesday that Sanders has been a long-time champion of the working class when it comes to income inequality, and said he has a much longer history on the issue than Clinton. “Hillary’s focus has been other things up to now, and that’s been Bernie’s — no one questions Bernie’s authenticity on those issues,” he said.
But on Wednesday morning, Biden said he was only trying to note that Clinton had a foreign policy role in the Obama administration.
“I was asked a question about Bernie Sanders and about Hillary and what I was saying was, Hillary had been secretary of state for five years,” Biden said Wednesday during an appearance on CBS’ “This Morning.”
“Prior to that, her major focus and function was still in the area of national security,” he said. Biden said he thought Clinton has put forward policies to address economic inequality that are “very, very proactive.”
That’s roughly how Clinton herself explained Biden’s remarks in a Tuesday interview on CNN. Still, Biden continued to acknowledge that Sanders’ history on income inequality is unmatched.
“Bernie has been doing the same speech for 30 years,” Biden added. “Literally, he’s never changed his position.”
The vice president said President Obama’s statement in Tuesday’s State of the Union address that the U.S. economy is strong was accurate, but noted the concentration of wealth among higher-income Americans is “dangerous.”
