Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday blamed the Koch brothers for the death of bipartisanship, during a campaign rally in South Carolina.
“Jim and I have been around long enough to know there used to be Republicans we could work with,” Biden said, referring to the House’s No. 3 Democrat, Rep. Jim Clyburn.
“I still think the majority are ready to work,” but they’re “just scared to death, scared of the Koch brothers [and] special interests,” Biden said, referring to Charles and David Koch, who have used their family fortune to shape the political landscape the last several cycles.
“That’s why we got to win back the Senate and the House,” Biden said.
Biden said there are Senate Republicans who would hold hearings and vote on President Obama’s nominee to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, but they are too afraid of their right flank.
“I called after Republicans said they wouldn’t hold hearings. I called seven Republican senators, and every one of them said, ‘I know you’re right,'” Biden said.
