Joe Biden told supporters at a San Francisco fundraiser that the Labour Party’s landslide defeat in the United Kingdom is a warning to the Democratic Party in the United States not to slide too far left.
“Boris Johnson is winning in a walk,” the former vice president said Thursday, referring to the U.K.’s prime minister and leader of the Conservative Party. Biden also said he predicted headlines would say, “Look what happens when the Labour Party moves so, so far to the Left. It comes up with ideas that are not able to be contained within a rational basis quickly.”
Biden, 77, then added, “You’re also going to see people saying, ‘My God, Boris Johnson, who is kind of a physical and emotional clone of the president, is able to win.'”
On Thursday evening, the Labour Party saw its lowest level of support since 1935, winning 205 seats in the 650-member Parliament, compared to 365 for Johnson’s Conservative Party. The former leader of the party, Jeremy Corbyn, ran as an avowed socialist with a platform promising to nationalize a number of industries and raise taxes on the wealthy. He resigned shortly after the results were finalized.
Throughout the Democratic primary, Biden has routinely attacked Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont for their left-wing policies. Biden has told voters that he doesn’t believe either candidate could pass most of their agenda through Congress, while also saying initiatives like “Medicare for all” are too costly and would require substantial tax increases on the middle class.
