Former Vice President Joe Biden went head-to-head with Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) on the debate stage ahead of another round of primaries on Tuesday. The pair of White House hopefuls attacked each other’s voting record and ability to take on President Trump in a general election.
The former vice president claimed to disagree with his socialist counterpart on the issues but admitted that he would adopt a similar job-killing energy policy that is embraced by Sen. Sanders.
Former Vice President Biden vowed to join Sen. Sanders and the progressive Left in calling for a fracking ban nationwide. A policy this radical would not only overhaul our energy sector, especially when implemented via the Green New Deal, but ban oil production and slash millions of jobs nationwide.
"No new fracking...not another new coal plant will be built." - Joe Biden #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/dKaTZVZ5c8
— Francis Brennan (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@FrancisBrennan) March 16, 2020
By vowing to stop oil drilling, fracking, Joe Biden is guaranteeing unemployment for thousands of Americans
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) March 16, 2020
This pivot from the former vice president represents Biden’s attempt to appease the far-left as he locks up the Democratic nomination. Embracing a government ban on fracking also signals former Vice President Biden abandoning his Pennsylvania roots; the Commonwealth is fueled by oil and gas jobs, and a ban would devastate blue-collar workers in Pennsylvania.
If Biden follows through on this promise come the general election, his embrace of a fracking ban will eviscerate the narrative that he is a “moderate.” If Biden wants to make up ground in blue-collar, swing states that Hillary Clinton lost in 2016, the former vice president would do well to stop trying to compete with the radical policies embraced by Sen. Sanders.
