2020 presidential long shot Julián Castro criticized front-runner Joe Biden for selectively using President Barack Obama’s legacy to his benefit during Thursday night’s presidential debate.
Biden was asked about the 3 million deportations that occurred under the Obama administration and he tried to deflect blame from them. Castro, who also served in Obama’s Cabinet as the head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, pushed back on Biden for his response.
“I agree that Barack Obama was very different from Donald Trump. Donald Trump has a dark heart when it comes to immigrants. He built his whole political career so far on scapegoating and fear mongering and otherizing migrants, and that’s very different for Barack Obama,” Castro stated.
[Related: ‘Are you forgetting what you said two minutes ago?’: Castro accuses Biden of memory loss]
He went on, “But my problem with Vice President Biden, and Cory pointed this out last time, is every time something good about Barack Obama comes up, he says, ‘Oh, I was there, I was there, I was there, that’s me, too,’ and then every time somebody questions part of the administration that we were both part of, he says, ‘Well, that was the president.’ I mean, he wants to take credit for Obama’s work, but not have to answer to any questions.”
Castro’s criticism of Biden is reminiscent of comments he made during July’s presidential debate. When he confronted the former vice president then, he told Biden to “have some guts on this issue” of immigration and deportation.
