While on the campaign trail, Joe Biden joked about growing up as a child in a crowded house with thin walls.
The 2020 Democrat was speaking on the campaign trail in Iowa Wednesday when he made the quip. In discussing the American middle class and the ability to move ahead economically, the 76-year-old former vice president told a story to the crowd about how his family managed to save up and move him, his three siblings, and his grandfather to their own house in Delaware.
“Folks, I’m determined to give the middle class a real shot again in this country,” Biden said. “The heart and soul of America has always been the belief that if you worked hard, anyone, anyone could succeed in America regardless of where they started life.
“It was after three years my dad was able to buy a house, a three-bedroom house, with four kids and a grandpop living with us. It was OK. Although, I do wonder how my parents got by — those walls were awful thin,” Biden said to laughter from the audience.
The video echoes a similar joke he made about “thin walls” at the National Council of La Raza’s annual conference back in 2012.
Biden is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination and leading in most polls, with a RealClearPolitics national average of polls putting him at 27.7% support, ahead of Elizabeth Warren, who is trailing him with 21% support.
That is still a drop from his peak during the campaign, which had him registering above 40% nationally with no candidate close behind. Biden recently brushed off his competitors, saying on CBS’ 60 Minutes, “I know I’m the front-runner. Find me a national poll with a notable — a couple exceptions — but look, this is a marathon.”
