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Former Vice President Joe Biden campaigns for the Democratic nomination for the 2020 United States presidential election at Grass Wagon Events Center
- Former Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview that he didn't believe anyone thought during the 2016 presidential election that President Trump would be as divisive as he turned out to be.
- "Even when he was running, I don't think anybody thought he would be as bad as he is," Biden said in an interview published Tuesday in the New York Times Magazine.
- Since announcing his candidacy in April, Biden has confronted questions over his centrist worldview from progressives and whether he would be too conciliatory dealing with Republicans.
- On the campaign trail, he's pitched his 45-year career in Washington, DC, as a senator and then vice president as the steady hand of moderation the nation needs after four years of the Trump administration.
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Former Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview that he didn't believe anyone thought during the 2016 presidential election that President Donald Trump would be as divisive a leader as he turned out to be.
"Even when he was running, I don't think anybody thought he would be as bad as he is," Biden said in an interview published Tuesday in the New York Times Magazine.
Since announcing his candidacy in April, Biden has confronted questions from progressives over his centrist worldview and whether he would be too conciliatory dealing with Republicans. On the campaign trail, he's pitched his 45-year career in Washington, DC, as a senator and then vice president as the steady hand of moderation the nation needs after four years of the Trump administration.
Read more: Joe Biden sees his long career in politics as his biggest advantage. His 2020 opponents want to use it against him
But he recently faced substantial backlash after making remarks fondly remembering his work with segregationist senators. Biden later apologized, but staunchly defended his record on civil rights.
Still, he's also faced scrutiny for his past opposition to busing as a mechanism to integrate schools. Sen. Kamala Harris effectively attacked Biden on his civil rights record in the first Democratic primary debate last month, lifting her standing in the polls while highlighting Biden's vulnerabilities.
Read more: Kamala Harris' appeal soars as Joe Biden's shrivels after their contentious Democratic debate
In The New York Times Magazine interview, he framed next year's presidential race as "a battle for the soul of America" and said "there's a lot of sadness in the country."
And in regards to his political record, Biden held out faith that voters would ultimately understand why he took positions that may be out of step in today's Democratic Party.
"I don't expect people to know the context, but I do think people intuitively know there is always a context in which something happened," he told the magazine.
Biden also lauded Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and called her "smart as the devil." But the progressive New York congresswoman criticized him, saying to the magazine, "I think that he's not a pragmatic choice," highlighting the continuing rift between progressive and centrist Democrats over the future direction of the country.
Biden called for civility as well, saying in the interview that the Democratic primary race involving nearly two dozen contenders shouldn't turn into "a circular firing squad."
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