No sooner had Joe Biden announced his 2020 Democratic presidential campaign than he was already facing opposition – and that was from within his own party.
A top progressive group gave the former vice president a thumbs down after his announcement Thursday, calling him out as a member of the “old guard” and a “centrist.”
“The old guard of the Democratic Party failed to stop Trump, and they can’t be counted on to lead the fight against his divide-and-conquer politics today,” the Justice Democrats said in a statement. “The party needs new leadership with a bold vision capable of energizing voters in the Democratic base who stayed home in 2016.
The old guard of the Democratic Party failed to stop Trump, and they can’t be counted on to lead the fight against his divide-and-conquer politics today. The party needs new leadership with a bold vision capable of energizing voters in the Democratic base who stayed home in 2016.
— Justice Democrats (@justicedems) April 25, 2019
The group calls itself Democrats but has backed socialist agendas and supported presidential contender Bernie Sanders as well as backing Democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in her congressional run.
“Democrats are increasingly uniting around progressive populist policies like Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, free college, rejecting corporate money, and ending mass incarceration and deportation. We don’t need someone who voted for the Iraq War, for mass incarceration, and for the Bankruptcy Reform Act while voting against gay marriage, reproductive rights, and school desegregation,” the group said about the former Obama vice president who is “near complete opposition” to the Democratic Party’s “center of energy.”
Joe Biden stands in near complete opposition to where the center of energy is in the Democratic Party today. Democrats are increasingly uniting around progressive populist policies like Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, free college, rejecting corporate money…
— Justice Democrats (@justicedems) April 25, 2019
…and ending mass incarceration and deportation. We don’t need someone who voted for the Iraq War, for mass incarceration, and for the Bankruptcy Reform Act while voting against gay marriage, reproductive rights, and school desegregation.
— Justice Democrats (@justicedems) April 25, 2019
“While we’re going to support the Democratic nominee, we can’t let a so-called ‘centrist’ like Joe Biden divide the Democratic Party and turn it into the party of ‘No, we can’t,'” the group added, also sharing an article that compared Biden to failed 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton.
Joe Biden is out-of-touch with the center of energy in the Democratic Party today. pic.twitter.com/CC1RcNIhqU
— Justice Democrats (@justicedems) April 25, 2019
“It’s probably worth noting that while this group, Justice Democrats, calls Biden ‘out-of-touch’ with the ‘center of energy’ in the Democratic Party, only 26 of the 79 candidates it endorsed last year won their primaries, and only 7 of those went on to win the general election,” Nate Silver, editor of political website FiveThirtyEight, said in a tweet Thursday.
It’s probably worth noting that while this group, Justice Democrats, calls Biden “out-of-touch” with the “center of energy” in the Democratic Party, only 26 of the 79 candidates it endorsed last year won their primaries, and only 7 of those went on to win the general election. pic.twitter.com/kHPsqgrp35
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) April 25, 2019
Biden launched his third presidential bid on Thursday, releasing a video in which he took a shot at President Trump and warned about the future of the nation if he is re-elected.
It’s official: Joe Biden announces his third presidential candidacy with video highlighting racism https://t.co/fU6C9rJtQW
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) April 25, 2019
“I believe history will look back on four years of this president and all he embraces as an aberrant moment in time,” Biden said in the video. “But if we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation — who we are — and I cannot stand by and watch that happen.”
“Everything that has made America is at stake. That’s why today I’m announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” he added.
And while the party establishment is sure to welcome Biden, perhaps not sarcastically as Trump did Thursday, progressives are already pushing back and setting up for awkward conversations around the Democratic dinner table.
— spinysucculent (@Crepuscular1) April 25, 2019
The @TheDemocrats new HRC has entered the race. Have they learned anything from 2016?
— Matty Scrape (@MattyScrape) April 25, 2019
We cannot have another Hillary situation. We must not choose a candidate based on their amount of experience. Republicans adore @realDonaldTrump because he supports their ideas. We need a nominee like @PeteButtigieg that we all can support, whether we are centrist or socialist.
— Jay (@sociopax) April 25, 2019
I mean this sincerely. There is NO HOPE of Medicare for All or anything else if McConnell is leader. The Democratic nominee cannot just defeat Trump. He or she must win a landslide and elect 3 Democratic senators in Colorado, Alabama and Arizona. These aren’t progressive states!
— Mark Murphy (@MarkMurphy2011) April 25, 2019
That’s what @justicedems does for the Party @DNC – splits the vote for 4 more years of Trump.
— Frog Legs (@100FrogLegs) April 25, 2019
WTH? This entire Tweet is counterproductive & just plain fuckin’ stupid. In what universe is attacking the presidential run of another Democrat a useful strategy for retaking the White House? Get your heads out of your asses, embrace logic & reason & let the primaries play out.
— Preston Thomas (@CafePreston) April 25, 2019
Nothing worse that a group who thinks it represents a majority when in reality it represents an extremely small minority.
.— Jim (@tonajimL) April 25, 2019
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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