Joe Biden told a gaggle of affluent donors that he doesn’t think it’s right to “demonize” the rich.
Speaking at the swanky Carlyle Hotel in New York City Tuesday evening, Biden told a crowd that included high-level business executives that their success shouldn’t be inherently criticized.
“By the way, you know, remember I got in trouble with some of the people on my team, on the Democratic side, because I said, ‘You know what I’ve found is rich people are just as patriotic as poor people.’ Not a joke,” Biden told the group of about 100 people. “I mean, we may not want to demonize anybody who has made money.”
During the speech Biden, 76, tiptoed a tightrope of appealing to both the rich donors in attendance while trying to portray an image that he is an advocate for the working class and supports increased taxes for the wealthy. He spoke about the importance of doing right by the “backbone of America.”
“You all are extremely successful people. But with all due respect, Wall Street didn’t build America. The wealthy didn’t build America. They make great contributions,” the former vice president said.
“When we have income inequality as large as we have in the United States today, it brews and ferments political discord and basic revolution,” he later added.
Among those at the event were former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, former Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman, former Hillary Clinton adviser Lisa Caputo, and Goldman Sachs CFO Stephen Scherr.
