125+ Reasons You Should Not Vote for Joe Biden
Despite being propped up by the Democratic establishment, dirty money, and association with Barack Obama, Joe Biden’s grip on the presidential nomination is finally slipping.
Quite simply, a Biden nomination would spell disaster. His electability is a myth, and even if he could beat Donald Trump, Biden would offer no substantial departure from the grim status quo that is rapidly destroying both our nation and the planet. In fact, over the past 50 years, he has been a key architect of the dreadful governance that got us here.
If we are to have any hope of progress, we must do all that we can to ensure Biden does not become the Democratic nominee. Here are over 125 reasons, all linked to sources, that you can send to the Boomers in your life to show them why. [This will be updated throughout the remainder of the primary.]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Healthcare, Social Security, Etc.
- Race
- Immigration
- Foreign Policy
- Criminal Justice and Drugs
- LGBTQ+ and Women’s Issues
- Economy, Class, and Wealth
- Climate Crisis
- Campaigning and Electability
- Corruption
- Education
- Labor, Trade, and Business
- Other
HEALTHCARE, SOCIAL SECURITY, ETC.
- Keeps trying over and over and over to cut Social Security and Medicare, raise the retirement age, and gut welfare, all while lying about it and absurdly claiming the video evidence of this is “doctored.”
- Opposes Medicare for All while he and his campaign lie about it what it would entail.
- Originally claimed he “doesn’t have time” to propose his own healthcare plan, then proposed one that would kill 125,000 Americans and leave over 10 million uninsured (which he’s lied about) in a rollout sponsored by Big Pharma.
- His health plan lets his corporate donors cancel your coverage, change your plan, and block you from using your preferred doctor.
- Wants to bring back penalizing those who can’t afford to pay for private insurance.
- Continues to praise Big Pharma to his ultra-wealthy donors, but is the only candidate to refuse to meet with disabled healthcare activist Ady Barkan.
- Accepts Big Pharma lobbyist money.
- Even his own wife admits he’s not good on healthcare, and he’s accidentally let slip the reality that you’ll be paying for a bad deal.
- Erskine Bowles (famous for leading the commission to raise the retirement age, cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and disabled veterans’ benefits, and lower taxes on billionaires) is bundling for him, meaning he’s collecting dark money from secret donors that are not disclosed.
- Personally fought to make cancer medication unaffordable for patients in developing nations.
- Was the only senator to vote against expanding a child care tax credit.
RACE
- Led the fight against desegregating schools and continued it years after it had been proven a success and was even being defended by Republicans. His bill to stop busing was so unpopular even a Senator who was a leader in the KKK opposed it.
- As part of his crusade against desegregating schools he was the only member of the Senate Judiciary Committee to block two black appointees to the Department of Justice.
- Chooses to work with and passionately support many of the worst racists and segregationists in America. [Expanded 1/30]
- Continues to lie about marching in the Civil Rights movement and participating in sit-ins at least 31 times, despite admitting this was not true in 1987. Also seems to lie about attending an HBCU. [Expanded 1/30]
- Has a very, very long history of racist comments.
- Generally has no understanding of racism in America.
IMMIGRATION
- Voted to expand deportations and indefinite detention multiple times and opposed amnesty for immigrants.
- As VP his administration deported more people than any other in American history, deporting people at a higher rate than Trump’s administration even according to ICE themselves.
- As VP his administration built the inhumane concentration camps in which children separated from their families are still illegally caged, beginning the practice which Trump has now continued.
- As VP his administration’s inhumane treatment of detained migrants led to the ongoing lawsuit claiming that ICE is violating the Flores Agreement by not providing basics like toothpaste and soap.
- As VP he expanded the anti-immigrant system Trump now uses by 3,600%.
- Voted to build border walls and supported sending military to the border long before Trump.
- Voted to ban immigrants with HIV, locking up Haitian refugees in Guantanamo Bay.
- Spearheaded the Alliance for Prosperity, which increased deportations, border militarization, privatization, and oil pipelines for American exploitation while worsening the refugee crisis.
- Supports the Republican talking point of requiring immigrants to learn English.
- He still refuses to answer for his record and has told immigration activists to vote for Trump and called the police on others for passing out flyers.
FOREIGN POLICY
- Voted for the disastrous Iraq War, told Bush he deserved the Nobel Prize for the invasion, then helped to continue escalating it years later, but now lies about this multiple times while still also saying he’d “do it again.”
- His foreign policy adviser helped Bush orchestrate the Iraq War before joining a lobbying firm for the military-industrial complex.
- Lied about getting shot down in Iraq and experiences in Afghanistan.
- Refuses to even acknowledge that Trump’s illegal and unjust assassination of an Iranian general was an assassination.
- Supports Israel’s right-wing regime and apartheid in Palestine purely to protect U.S. interests. A self-described Zionist, he blames Palestinians for multiple US-backed Israeli massacres, including an attack that killed 9 peace activists.
- Calls BDS “anti-semitic” and has a 100% rating from AIPAC.
- Lies about protesting the Vietnam War. [Added 1/30]
- Supports the Trump-backed right-wing opposition leader attempting a coup in Venezuela, despite not knowing where the nation is.
- Tacitly supports Bolivia’s violent fascist insurrection that’s backed by Trump, despite not knowing where the nation is.
- Architected Plan Colombia, internationalizing the War On Drugs resulting in mass death, displacement, and destruction of food crops, while opening the country to U.S. business interests.
- Personally tried to prevent Ecuador from providing asylum for Edward Snowden.
- Recklessly threatens nuclear war with North Korea and seems to think Kim Jong Un is from South Korea and that they’ve met when they haven’t.
- Says the CIA torture report is not a “black stain on this country” but a “badge of honor.”
- Voted to authorize invasion of the Netherlands if an American is tried for war crimes by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, refusal to participate in UN peacekeeping unless the U.S. obtains immunity, and withdrawal of aid to countries that ratify ICC treaty.
- Is so hawkish he even stood alone in calling for the U.S. to invade Sudan in 2007.
- Orchestrated the 1999 Serbian bombings that helped the nation’s dictator overthrow the local pro-democracy movement.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND DRUGS
- Wrote the racist Crime Bill that intentionally led to record-breaking mass incarceration, championing it as his signature achievement and positioning himself to the right of even Reagan and Bush.
- Supports denying incarcerated people the right to vote, defending bans that were enacted specifically to keep black Americans from voting.
- Led the disastrous War on Drugs, yet two of his children escaped consequences for drug use.
- Somehow still opposes cannabis legalization, while simultaneously trying to destroy the growing industry by handing it over to the Big Pharma.
- Pushed to expand death penalty, even to those on drug charges.
- Worsened the opioid epidemic and made it harder to treat.
- Wants to make up reasons to jail anyone associated with a rave and literally bulldoze them down, while his RAVE legislation lets kids die from preventable drug overdoses.
- One of his big fundraisers is a Republican donor who is a major player in the for-profit prison industry.
LGBTQ+ AND WOMEN’S ISSUES
- Long history of creepily/patronizingly groping/sniffing/kissing/grabbing and intimidating/condescending to women and young girls just so many, many times, continuing even after his non-apology.
- Opposed equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community even very recently, only eventually coming around just 8 short years ago, and is still awkward at best on the issue.
- Opposed Roe v Wade, voted to allow states to overturn it like they are doing now, does “not view abortion as a choice and a right,” and repeatedly opposes federal funding for it even during this election.
- Took a $200,000 bribe to help an anti-abortion Republican beat a Democrat to Congress.
- Worked to undermine the ACA’s coverage of birth control.
- Horribly mistreated Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas sexual harassment hearing.
ECONOMY, CLASS, AND WEALTH
- Defends billionaires hoarding wealth and promises that “nothing will fundamentally change.”
- Sided with banks to overturn Glass-Steagall and deregulate, leading to the financial crisis.
- Led the disastrous Bankruptcy Bill and opposition to predatory lending, resulting in increased debt, which he continues to defend.
- Voted to slash the top income tax rate and cripple the estate tax, resulting in $83 billion lost annually.
- Has dishonestly tried to take credit for the formation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, despite actually helping strip state consumer protection.
- Regularly demonizes the poor with racist dogwhistles.
- Lies about having been poor for sympathy though he made over four times the median income at the time in question.
- His tax returns revealed an $11 million increase in income in his first year out of office alone, an amount that is higher than the entire net worth of every other candidate polling in double digits.
CLIMATE CRISIS
- He still supports fracking, oil and gas exportation, and the building of new fossil fuel infrastructure.
- Opposes meaningful action on the climate crisis like the Green New Deal and lies about it, instead pursuing the “middle ground” while his campaign attacks publications for accurately reporting this.
- Plagiarized fossil fuel groups’ language in his woefully inadequate climate crisis plan.
- One of his climate advisors made $1 million from one natural gas company alone, while many others have ties to the industry as well.
- Broke his own pledge to not accept fossil fuel money by attending a fundraiser hosted by his former advisor and current oil corporation co-founder/owner Andrew Goldman, and lied about it twice.
- He is often rude and condescending towards young climate activists and those asking about the issue, even making uncomfortable physical contact with one woman.
- His campaign shot down the proposed climate debate and skipped MSNBC’s climate forum.
- Instead of supporting job placement for affected fossil fuel workers during the transition to a green economy like the Green New Deal does, he dismissively tells coal miners to just learn to code instead.
CAMPAIGNING AND ELECTABILITY
- A Biden matchup against Trump would truly be a disaster, as all of Biden’s weaknesses play directly into Trump’s strengths.
- He has questionable electability based on receiving less than 0.22% in 3 previous Democratic primary elections.
- Dropped out of the 1988 race in disgrace after it was revealed he had lied about his academic record and plagiarized law school papers and campaign speeches including one in which he lied about having coal miner roots.
- Has an infamous propensity for awkward “gaffes” and freak-outs, including many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many in this election cycle alone, to the point where he is literally unable to campaign.
- He is currently skipping major party events, hiding from the press, and holding only between a quarter and half as many public events as other candidates.
- Has next to no voter enthusiasm, with a recent poll showing just 8% of respondents feel Biden is “exciting.”
- Has less college-age support than Trump and is consistently one of the lowest with those under 35, which is the country’s largest voting bloc (Obama won young voters and they carried him to a general election victory, whereas Clinton’s failure with youth saw her lose to Trump). [Added 1/30]
- Has a history of insulting voters many times.
- His anti-progressive campaign surrogate Ed Rendell is a sexist, pro-fracking, pro-AIPAC Fox News supporter who approved bombing a black neighborhood in Philadelphia, killing 5 children and 6 adults.
- Accepted the endorsement of Alan Dershowitz, the millionaire on Trump’s legal defense team who is accused of taking part in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex ring, after Biden’s son ensured a similar billionaire pedophile avoided prison after raping his own toddler.
- Broke his own pledge to take over 2x more money than Trump from lobbyists and special interests, including at least 44 billionaires.
- Has the same general donor base as Trump and even Trump himself has donated to him.
- He is still openly courting Republican billionaires for donations, including John Catsimatidis, who’s compared taxing the wealthy to Nazi persecution of Jews.
- Despite his supposed frontrunner status he is a distant 5th in both small-dollar donations and individual donors.
- Flip-flopped on his initial opposition to using Super PACs and established one with military industrial complex and private healthcare lobbyists, even after admitting, “You shouldn’t accept any money from a Super PAC, because people can’t possibly trust you” just one year prior.
- His campaign is abusing his non-unionized staff and forcing them to work in unsafe conditions.
- Seems to have found a loophole to avoid paying his interns.
- More voters say they will never vote for him under any circumstances than any other candidate.
- Has so little volunteer enthusiasm he has to post public job listings for paid canvassing positions. [Added 2/3]
- Used Charlottesville as a prop in his campaign video despite never even visiting once.
- Campaigns on America being able to achieve anything while also telling us we can’t even achieve common basics like universal healthcare coverage.
- Unconvincingly co-opted Bernie’s slogan, and a Biden PAC plagiarized Kamala Harris’ slogan for its name.
- There are questions about his health, as he’s suffered a burst blood vessel in his eye, loose dentures, shocking mental lapses, and even undergone brain surgery and experienced multiple brain aneurysms.
CORRUPTION
- Won’t admit his son’s shady dealings in Ukraine were wrong, lies about being warned about it, and freaks out and attacks voters when they ask him about this topic, showing no ability to handle the issue in a general election against Trump.
- Says he will defy a subpoena to testify in Trump’s trial, which presents guilty optics at best.
- Voted to deregulate the credit card industry while a credit card company hired his son and was his top donor from 1989–2000.
- Appears to have gotten his brother an EVP role at a construction firm the Obama/Biden administration then awarded a $1.5 billion contract to to build houses in Iraq, despite his brother having no prior residential construction experience.
- Helped his brother secure funding and contracts to build upper class developments in Jamaica and Costa Rican rainforests, as well as sketchy lobbyist ties to land in the Virgin Islands.
- Granted his son-in-law’s health consulting company D.C. and White House access.
- His son is somehow conveniently getting away with not paying child support that is owed.
- Has a long history of generally Trump-esque nepotism that he refuses to address.
- Very openly partakes in general corruption while lying and condescending about this.
EDUCATION
- Has not proposed any plans to make public college tuition free or to abolish student debt.
- Specifically fought to make student loan debt more difficult to live with before dismissing the plight of Millennials who are now the most indebted generation ever and laughing about it.
- Accepts student lender lobbyist money.
- Lied about his own student debt multiple times, his own scholarship and his own academic achievements.
- Plagiarized law school papers, the discovery of which forced him to drop out of the 1988 race in disgrace.
LABOR, TRADE, AND BUSINESS
- Voted against enhancing labor protection enforcements.
- Voted for NAFTA, supports TPP, is generally to the right of Trump on trade, and argued against the prediction that China would become an economic competitor
- Works with union-busters, voted to cut union pensions, continues to snub unions, and is generally bad for workers.
- Attorneys from union-busting law firms are bundling at minimum tens of thousands of secretly sourced dollars for his campaign. [Added 1/31]
- Consistently sides with special interests and corporations against antitrust regulation and voted for the first antitrust exemption since 1922.
OTHER
- Supported the NRA in passing massive anti-gun control legislation, and repeatedly blames videos games for mass shootings.
- Threatened to shoot Obama if he tried to take his multiple guns.
- Driving force behind the Patriot Act, supports warrantless wiretaps / mass surveillance while his son partially owns the Chinese government’s Islamophobic mass surveillance system.
- Voted against abolishing the electoral college that went on to undemocratically elect Bush and Trump.
- Voted for the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that deregulated the media industry, helping just six monopolies, including Fox, gain control over 90% of all U.S. media.
- His Senate chief of staff is now running Fox News’ lobbying operation.
- Opposes net neutrality.
- Has no plan to reform the court system or counter its Republican takeover, and is fine with Kavanaugh remaining on the Supreme Court for life.
- Has proposed re-nominating the failed Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, a nearly 70 year-old “moderate” who has opposed human rights for Guantanamo detainees and voting rights.
- Is considering picking a Republican to be his VP.
- Has a long history of supporting, praising, and awarding so many of the worst Republicans like George and Jeb Bush, Cheney, and Pence.
- Republicans like Strom Thurmond and Meghan and the McCain family and have endorsed him because of his conservative views.
- Ideologically, he admits, “A lot of us sit around thinking up ways to vote conservative just so we don’t come out with a liberal rating. I’m really quite conservative…”
- He wants people to stay Republican instead of becoming Democrats, doesn’t want the Republican Party to lose power, and doesn’t want the Democratic Party to become too powerful.
- The worst part? He’s still not sorry for any of this (but wants a black man to apologize to him).
If you liked this article you might also be interested in “10 Reasons Why Bernie Sanders Is Our Best Chance to Beat Donald Trump,” “A Progressive’s Guide to Choosing Between Bernie and Warren,” and “A Guide to the 2020 Democratic Candidates You Should Not Vote For.”
