Tipsheet

Biden Ripped for Tweet Calling America an 'Idea' That 'We've Never Lived Up To'

Ellie Bufkin
Ellie Bufkin  |  October 22, 2020 3:25 PM

Joe Biden is being excoriated on Twitter after sharing a brief audio clip in which the Democratic presidential nominee reduces the United States of America down to "an idea" that we as a nation have never actually lived up to. 

Biden was so pleased with the clip, in fact, that he shared a portion of the quote as a message for his campaign. 

"America was an idea," Biden said during an appearance on the "Unlocking Us with Brené Brown" podcast. 

"We've never lived up to it but we've never walked away from it before," he said. 

Biden's self-promoted remarks stemmed from a longer conversation about the failing of America and how the nation has never truly lived up to its own ethos, as intended by the founders. 

Recommended

We Might Have a Problem With Trump's Labor Secretary Nominee Matt Vespa
Georgia Conducted a Hand Count Audit of Its Election Results. Guess What it Found? Guy Benson

"America was an idea, an idea," he began. "'We hold these truths to be self-evident;' we've never lived up to it, but we've never walked away from it before. And I just think we have to be more honest, let our kids know, as we raise them, what actually did happen, acknowledge our mistakes, so we don't repeat them."

Biden likely thought that his words sounded good in terms of placating to activists who want most of the country to feel guilty about the color of their skin or feel ashamed of the past, and perhaps this sentiment landed well with the unpatriotic. 

But most of Twitter seemed utterly horrified to hear from the Democratic nominee for president that their country, which millions have fought and died for, was nothing more to him than a past "idea."

"I didn’t fly and fight for 20 years for an 'idea,'" GOP congressional candidate and veteran Buzz Patterson said. "I did it, with the American flag on my shoulder, for people, for the greatest nation on the planet, for all of the good we’ve contributed to the world, for my children."

Others immediately harkened back to D-Day, a day in which American soldiers faced almost certain death to fight fascism on the beaches of Normandy, who literally jumped out of an airplane not knowing if they would ever touch the ground again to protect the greatest nation on earth. 

Others simply expressed their hurt that Biden could possibly think that about a nation he intends to lead. 

Political commentator Dave Rubin pointed out that if Biden really thinks that America was just an idea, perhaps his 47 years in Washington had something to do with the abject failure. 

Meanwhile, President Trump faced heat from the left-wing media on Thursday for releasing an early edition of his interview with CBS's Lesley Stahl, which he said was deeply partisan and featured questions Biden would never be asked. 

Stahl asked the president to characterize his supporters. 

"People who love our country," Trump said.