Sen. Cory Booker accused Joe Biden of opportunistically invoking his past as vice president with Barack Obama during the second Democratic presidential debate Wednesday night.
The New Jersey Democrat accused Biden of inconsistently using Obama to promote certain policies and hiding behind a veil of privacy on sticking points in Obama’s legacy. Biden had cited his past with Obama earlier in the debate, defending the Obama administration’s healthcare and immigration policies.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio challenged Biden to defend the deportation of roughly 3 million illegal immigrants that happened under Obama. De Blasio asked Biden to share what he told Obama in private, specifically if Biden had advised the former president against deporting illegal immigrants.
“I was vice president. I was not the president. I keep my recommendations in private, unlike you. I expect you would say whatever was said privately with him. That was not what I do,” Biden responded.
Booker jumped into the debate accusing Biden of invoking Obama only when the situation is “convenient.”
“Mr. Vice President, you can’t have it both ways. You invoke President Obama more than anybody in this campaign. You can’t do it when it is convenient and dodge it when it is not,” Booker said.
Biden continued to defend Obama’s border policies, referencing policies such as DACA.
