During a climate-themed town hall Wednesday at Northwestern University, former Vice President Joe Biden was seemingly busted for being a two-faced liar — a habitual one, at that.
In late June, the 2020 contender announced that he’d signed the so-called “No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge,” a vow to refuse campaign donations from members of the fossil fuel industry.
However, it now appears his vow may have been a lie, as noted at the town hall by one observant audience member who called Biden out for an upcoming meeting with a fossil fuel executive.
Watch the stunning confrontation below:
Source: CNN
“I know that you signed a no fossil fuel money pledge, but I have to ask …” audience member Issac Larkin, a doctoral student at Northwestern, said to the former VP.
“How can we trust you to hold these corporations and executives accountable for their crimes against humanity when we know that tomorrow you are holding a high-dollar fundraiser hosted by Andrew Goldman, a fossil fuel executive!?”
Busted …
“He’s not a fossil fuel executive,” Biden promptly replied, before going on to ramble about his climate-change plan.
Fact-check: FALSE.
The one to provide the fact-check was, surprisingly enough, CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
“There is a fundraiser tomorrow night. It’s given by a guy named Andrew Goldman. He does hedge funds and stuff, but he also has a company called Western LNG,” he said.
“And their biggest project — which I think was announced in 2018 — is a floating, liquified facility for natural gas. It’s off the coast of British Colombia, and it’s going to provide Canadian gas to parts of Northern Asia. … [I]f you’re going to a fundraiser that’s given in part by this guy who has this company that is pulling up natural gas, are you the right guy to go after [fossil fuel executives]?”
The former VP replied by stating what appeared to be another lie.
“Well, I didn’t realize he does that,” he said. “I was told — if you look at the SEC filings, he’s not listed as one of those executives. That’s what we look at. The SEC filings. Who are those executives? I’ve kept that pledge. Period.”
Andrew Goldman, the man hosting the fundraiser for Biden on Thursday, is listed on the natural gas firm Western LNG’s website as its “co-founder.”
Asked about the fossil fuel executive scheduled to host his fundraiser, @JoeBiden says on @CNN that the exec, Andrew Goldman, is “not listed as one of the executives” on SEC filings.
* But Goldman is listed as “co-founder” of Western LNG on its website. https://t.co/cI7cgTv1Yr pic.twitter.com/BeNJlRlSat
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) September 5, 2019
Moreover, in a Canadian utilities filing submitted last year by a law firm that had completed work on behalf of Western LNG, Goldman was explicitly identified as “a long-term investor in the liquefied natural gas sector.”
The question then becomes whether it’s fair to identify a natural gas company co-founder and investor as a “fossil fuel executive.” Semantically speaking, the case could certainly be made that no, it’s not fair. But speaking from a position of common sense, the facts seem clear.
As the town hall continued, Cooper then asked Biden, “Are you going to look at that fundraiser tomorrow night?”
“I’m going to look at what you told me and find out if that’s accurate, yes!” Biden replied.
During the forum, the 2020 contender’s campaign adviser, Symone Sanders, issued a statement via Twitter attempting to dispute Cooper’s observations about Goldman.
“What @andersoncooper just said about VP Biden’s fundraiser is factually incorrect,” she wrote. “Andrew Goldman isn’t a fossil fuel executive. He’s not involved in the day to day operation. He’s not on the board of the company, nor the board of the portfolio company.”
“VP Biden signed a pledge not to take money from fossil fuel executives. He stands by it, and he has not violated it.”
What @andersoncooper just said about VP Biden’s fundraiser is factually incorrect. Andrew Goldman isn’t a fossil fuel executive. He’s not involved in the day to day operation. He’s not on the board of the company, nor the board of the portfolio company.
— Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) September 5, 2019
VP Biden signed a pledge not to take money from fossil fuel executives. He stands by it, and he has not violated it.
— Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) September 5, 2019
What’s interesting is that right before Biden’s time on stage ended — about twenty minutes after Sanders posted her original tweets — Cooper issued a correction of sorts.
“I want to clarify: Andrew Goldman, the co-sponsor of the fundraiser, he was co-founder of a company called Western LNG. He currently doesn’t have day to day responsibilities,” he said.
While Sanders was quick to share this clip, as can be seen below, the public was not quick to accept Cooper’s apparent mea culpa.
Look:
At the end of VP Biden’s time on stage, Anderson Cooper clarified that Andrew Goldman is in fact NOT a fossil fuel exec. pic.twitter.com/Ryn7zxQFiM
— Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) September 5, 2019
Cooper got bullied into giving misinformation by Biden’s campaign.
Goldman is an active member of the company according to everybody involved. Symone is out here playing semantics about his job title. pic.twitter.com/tnwqwYgIUm
— Marlo Ck (@MarloCk999) September 5, 2019
Oh, so he just has a massive financial interest in the fossil fuel industry, okay.
— DSA Swarthykin Caucus ❼ (@QueenInYeIIow) September 5, 2019
That’s a bizarre semantic hill to die on, but desperate times call for desperate distortions
— Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!! (@gibsopi) September 5, 2019
Andrew Goldman cofounded a liquified natural gas company. Has he made a portion of his fortune profiting from fossil fuels? YES! Why are you fixated on ‘executive’ instead what is more important?!
— J (@jennine619) September 5, 2019
So being the Co-founder not executive dismantles the whole point the guy asked the question put up?
— Progressive Middle-Eastern (@mahmoudkenny98) September 5, 2019
come on. he’s the co-founder of an LNG company. I don’t care what you’re *technically* referring to as a fossil fuel exec… Goldman <3 fracked gas.
— Maria Langholz (@MariaLangholz) September 5, 2019
He is a fossil fuel exec. He owns the damn company. He’s not in day to day management, but he profits off fossil fuels.
As usual, Symone is out here lying her face off to defend her golden senile goose.
— Christopher Jackson (@BerniesBack2020) September 5, 2019
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.
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