Former Vice President Joe Biden is expected to soon join a group of Democratic presidential hopefuls — and campaign before a Democratic Party base — defined by antipathy toward the GOP and its policies.
Which begs the question: Can Biden get away with the many times he has spoken fondly of Republicans?
“One of my problems, if I ever run for president, is that I like Republicans,” Biden said in January at the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting.
On the other hand, Biden has shown he can convert purring praise to a nasty snarl, with both aimed at the very same person.
Here are seven incidences of Biden praising Republicans, a few of whom landed on his bad side too.
1. Attorney General William Barr
During Barr’s 1991 attorney general confirmation hearing, after being nominated by Republican President George H.W. Bush, then-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Biden praised Barr’s character and temperament.
“It’s a presumptuous thing for me to say, but I personally like you. I think you’re a heck of an honorable guy,” Biden said. “I think you’re a person I can work with, and you’ve demonstrated that. When I say ‘can work with,’ I don’t mean you do it our way. I mean you — when you sit down and negotiate, you genuinely negotiate.”
Such high praise could haunt Biden as Democrats begin to pile on Barr as a partisan Trump stooge, slamming him for saying Trump’s campaign had been spied on.
2. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush
Biden praised Florida Gov. Jeb Bush when they appeared on a panel together at the University of Pennsylvania Thursday to discuss the opioid epidemic.
“You were a hell of a governor,” Biden told Bush.
In 2002, however, Biden suggested that Bush was involved in suppressing the black vote in 2000 to help his brother George to victory in Florida and with it, the Electoral College.
“It’s not just a big deal because the whole world, not the whole nation, the whole world, looked at how many people of color were disenfranchised last time,” he said during a 2002 campaign stop for Bill McBride, the Democratic running against Bush for governor, at a Baptist church near Miami. “It’s a big deal because everything we stand for in this church is at stake.”
3. Utah Sen. Mitt Romney
At a 2017 gathering of donors and business leaders that Romney hosted in Utah, Biden reportedly called Romney a man of integrity and encouraged him to run for Senate.
“By the way, you should run for Senate,” Biden reportedly said at the closed-door event. Romney later went on to run for and win a Utah senate the following year.
When the two politicians were on opposite sides during the 2012 presidential election, with Romney as the GOP nominee, Biden was antagonistic, again suggested racial animus. He famously told a mostly black audience that Romney’s economic policies would “put you all back in chains.”
4. Vice President Mike Pence
During a February speech in Omaha, Neb., Biden called Vice President Mike Pence “a guy who’s a decent guy” who had to bear the antipathy of European leaders toward President Trump at the Munich Security Conference earlier that month.
After liberal activist and actress Cynthia Nixon criticized Biden for calling Pence decent, Biden apologized.
“There is nothing decent about being anti-LGBTQ rights, and that includes the Vice President,” Biden said in a tweet.
5. Michigan Rep. Fred Upton
Biden hailed Upton as a champion in the fight against cancer and “one of the finest guys I’ve ever worked with” at an event in Michigan just three weeks before the 2018 midterm elections.
Biden received $200,000 for the speech from the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan, the New York Times reported. The praise reportedly appeared to be sincere admiration rather than politically motivated, but Biden surprised Democrats with his friendly comments. Upton went on to win reelection by just 4.5 points.
6. Former California Rep. Darrell Issa
“Darrell Issa, not a Republican friend of mine. He’s a friend,” Biden said at a climate change summit in October 2015. “I don’t consider Republicans enemies, they’re friends.”
Biden’s comment appeared to be a response to Hillary Clinton’s statement at a 2015 Democratic presidential debate. When asked which enemy she is most proud of, Clinton said, “In addition to the NRA, the health insurance companies, the drug companies, the Iranians. Probably the Republicans.”
Issa was known as one of the Obama administration’s toughest critics while he was in Congress. As chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, he presided over a probe of the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS.
7. Late Arizona Sen. John McCain
“My name is Joe Biden. I’m a Democrat. And I loved John McCain. I have had the dubious honor over the years of giving some eulogies for fine women and men that I’ve admired. But, Lindsey, this one’s hard,” Biden said in a tearful eulogy at McCain’s funeral in 2018.
“John was a hero, his character, courage, honor, integrity. I think it is understated when they say optimism. That’s what made John special. Made John a giant among all of us,” Biden said.
On the 2008 campaign trail, however, Biden and McCain were less than friendly to each other.
“What you are seeing is an angry man,” Biden said of McCain at a 2008 campaign stop in Florida. “I guess when you vote with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, your best hope is to attack your opponent 100 percent of the time.”
At another 2008 campaign event, Biden criticized McCain for running a campaign ad that highlighted Biden’s gaffes.
“In my neighborhood where I came from, if you got something to say to a man, look him in the eye, and say it,” Biden said.
