Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden blamed his staff Wednesday for plagiarism in his new climate change proposal.
When asked about the plagiarism, Biden told reporters that his campaign staffers “made a mistake.”
“I think you’re going to see from the campaign an acknowledgment of exactly what happened and what it did. You know, it’s uh, I think it’s uh … Look, they made a mistake, they corrected it, they acknowledged it, and they let me know about it. And the outfits that some of the language came from are people who support the plan,” he said.
The backlash Biden faces comes after the language in his climate proposal was found similar to other reports, most notably ones from the Blue Green Alliance and the Carbon Capture Coalition.
Biden’s proposal, although not nearly as costly, is in line with the Green New Deal advocated by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel told Fox News on Wednesday that Biden’s plagiarism does not surprise her.
In addition to the plagiarism controversy, Biden has received criticism for his stance on the Hyde Amendment, which has repeatedly changed. The Hyde Amendment bans taxpayer dollars from funding abortions.
Watch Biden’s comments to the press here:
Biden blames his staff after being caught plagiarizing again: "Look, they made a mistake, they corrected it, they acknowledged it, and they let me know about it. And the outfits that some of the language came from support the plan." pic.twitter.com/B2zGnsfkvr
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) June 5, 2019
A previous version of this story identified McDaniel as the former RNC chair. She is the current chair. We apologize for the error.