• Former VP Joe Biden rips ”condescending” Dems at Pittsburgh fundraising speech,
In a speech to deep-pocketed Democratic donors, politicians and real estate executives Tuesday evening in Pittsburgh, former Vice President Joe Biden called out “condescending” Democrats who believe it’s their way “or the highway” and lambasted President Donald Trump for damaging America’s standing internationally.
Mr. Biden, attending a private fundraiser and reception on the 17th floor of the Omni William Penn Hotel Downtown, criticized some in the Democratic field for representing “elitism” that working-class Americans don’t identify with.
“There’s no way to get anything done, there’s no way to bring this country together, there’s no way to beat Donald Trump if we don’t start talking about what we’re for and why you can be extremely progressive but not be off the wall ... and [why you can be] extremely progressive but not be socialist,” Mr. Biden said to an audience of more than 200 in a hotel ballroom.
Though he didn’t mention her by name, Mr. Biden slammed Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren for saying earlier this week that the former vice president is “running in the wrong presidential primary.”
“On one level, it’s kind of funny,” Mr. Biden said. “I’ve been a Democrat my whole life. This person has only fairly recently in the mid-’90s become a Democrat.”
Borrowing former President Barack Obama’s words, Mr. Biden lambasted some in the Democratic field for forming a “circular firing squad” and said it’s appropriate for candidates to attack each other’s judgment, but not their motives.
Having a “condescending” attitude toward other ideas, Mr. Biden said, was what got Democrats in trouble in 2016. Mr. Biden noted that although Hillary Clinton would have been a “great president,” the Democrats “didn’t spend a lot of time talking to our base.”
Mr. Biden said he’s more progressive than anybody and went into his health care proposal: building on Obamacare and providing a public option, allowing people to keep their insurance if they like what they’ve negotiated. The plan would cost $720 billion over 10 years, he said, instead of the $30 trillion or $40 trillion price tag that some of his opponents’ plans require.
Taking aim at Mr. Trump and borrowing from his usual stump speech, Mr. Biden said the president has no “moral center” and has run his campaign “dividing the nation.”
“We can handle four years of Donald Trump with difficulty, domestically and foreign policy,” Mr. Biden said, “but eight years of Donald Trump will fundamentally change the nature of who we are for at least two or three generations.”
The Tuesday fundraiser featured a list of high-profile attendees with long, documented histories of donating to Democratic causes and campaigns.
Billed as co-hosts — pledged to raise more than $15,000 for the event — were Dusty Kirk, partner at Reed Smith LLP law firm; Tom VanKirk, executive vice president of Highmark Health; Doug Campbell, a founding member of the Campbell & Levine law firm; Ray Linsenmayer, local Democratic activist and former candidate for Congress; and Gail Klingensmith, co-owner of the famous local diner chain Pamela’s P&G Diner.
Also in attendance and listed as a co-host was Jim Rooney, son of the late Steelers chairman and former U.S. ambassador to Ireland Dan Rooney — who served as ambassador during the Obama-Biden administration.
Pascal “Pat” Nardelli — president of Pittsburgh-based Castlebrook Development — introduced Mr. Biden. Though he hasn’t yet given to the campaign, he pledged to raise more than $25,000 for this fundraiser as a “cochair.”
Mr. Biden’s visit coincided with Pennsylvania’s municipal elections and came a day after the 11-year anniversary of the 2008 presidential election, when he and Mr. Obama were first elected to the White House.