# Great news for the Biden campaign (really) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 28, 2020, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630 "2020-05-28T21:48:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630/21 "2020-06-05T13:26:34Z")
NOT great news for the Biden campaign!! **[Biden: Probably ‘10 to 15 percent’ of Americans ‘are just not very good people’](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/501286-biden-probably-10-to-15-percent-of-americans-are-just-not-very-good-people)** :eek: > [@](#): > > Former Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday said that 10 to 15 percent of “people out there that are just not very good people.” > > Speaking during a virtual town hall with young Americans, Biden discussed the importance of a president setting an example for the country on issues of race during a conversation moderated by actor Don Cheadle. > > Biden accused President Trump of dividing the nation, saying “The words a president says matter, so when a president stands up and divides people all the time, you’re going to get the worst of us to come out.” > > “Do we really think this is as good as we can be as a nation? I don’t think the vast majority of people think that,” the former vice president added. “There are probably anywhere from 10 to 15 percent of the people out there that are just not very good people, but that’s not who we are. The vast majority of the people are decent, and we have to appeal to that and we have to unite people — bring them together. Bring them together.” > > Biden’s comments were reminiscent of some other controversial comments made by former presidential nominees. > … Duh. Who could they be talking about?? 😕 :rolleyes: For crap’s sake, Joe!! Didn’t you learn anything from Hillary’s “DEPLORABLES” comment?? :smack: Apparently not. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630/22 "2020-06-05T13:52:03Z")
I’ve learned that Hillary was being charitable. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630/23 "2020-06-05T14:47:55Z")
I think we can all agree that 10-15% are “just not very good people.” The problem is we all have a different 10-15% in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630/24 "2020-06-05T15:57:17Z")
Skimming the morning paper, I saw that Jared had been charged with overseeing yet another “hot topic.” Is anyone keeping track of how many hugely challenging and longstanding issues this mediocrity is supposedly in charge of resolving? Is there lasting peace in the Mideast by now? I must’ve missed the announcement. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630/25 "2020-06-05T16:25:27Z")
Yesterday Biden said in a speech…A president must represent everyone. Not just supporters and donators. Then he says the above. Hoping he picks a strong VP. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630/26 "2020-06-05T16:37:42Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > I think we can all agree that 10-15% are “just not very good people.” The problem is we all have a different 10-15% in mind. Cluster B types, avowed tribalists and general assholes probably make up 15% of the country. I’d say Biden was pretty accurate. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630/27 "2020-06-05T17:14:38Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > NOT great news for the Biden campaign!! > > **[Biden: Probably ‘10 to 15 percent’ of Americans ‘are just not very good people’](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/501286-biden-probably-10-to-15-percent-of-americans-are-just-not-very-good-people)** Nothing wrong with that at all, it’s totally true. I’d say it more like 25%. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630/28 "2020-06-05T17:32:56Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Nothing wrong with that at all, it’s totally true. I’d say it more like 25%. :dubious: You left out the irony tags. If you didn’t meant that ironically, then you have completely missed the point. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630/29 "2020-06-05T18:04:57Z")
dup ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630/30 "2020-06-05T18:14:47Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > :dubious: > > You left out the irony tags. > > If you didn’t meant that ironically, then you have completely missed the point. What point? that Joe said something absolutely true? I dont see any problem with it at all. Remember, here is what Hillary said _"“You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right?” Clinton said. “The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic—you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.”_ And you know - that was 100% true also. The difference is- it was specifically aimed at certain people, whilst Joes comment wasnt. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630/31 "2020-06-05T18:18:53Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Yesterday Biden said in a speech…A president must represent everyone. Not just supporters and donators. > > Then he says the above. > > Hoping he picks a strong VP. I hope Biden \*doesn’t \*represent the white supremacist, KKK, and Nazi Americans. The problem is- trump \*does. \* Nothing at all wrong with what Biden said. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630/32 "2020-06-05T19:45:12Z")
Holy crap, people. OF COURSE what Biden said was true. And it was true when Hillary said it, too. :smack: But he needs to get elected. There are ALL kinds of ways he could have gotten the concept he was expressing across without making Hillary’s mistake _(and it was a mistake, even though it was the truth)_ of INSULTING a whole group of people. We don’t need any more US and THEM. We don’t need any more _“there are the good people (us)”_ and _“then there are the rest of **you** ”_! Biden needs the fence-sitters. The ones who are getting disillusioned and disenchanted with trump. He didn’t have to compromise any principles by emphasizing the _need for unity, the fact that people are consumed by fear these days, that they need something to hope for and that Democrats can give that to them_, blahblahblah-- all of which statements are TRUE, too. Move divisive talk is not going to get him elected. And he absolutely must be elected or the country is totally fucked. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630/33 "2020-06-05T21:05:51Z")
As noted above, Hillary didn’t say the same thing at all. She said half of Trump’s supporters are deplorable. Biden said one in ten Americans are probably “not very good people”. It’s not just different in substance but in sound bite/slogan use. Can you imagine Trump supporters holding up signs saying “I’m one of the not very good people!”? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630/34 "2020-06-06T00:09:48Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > As noted above, Hillary didn’t say the same thing at all. She said half of Trump’s supporters are deplorable. Biden said one in ten Americans are probably “not very good people”. It’s not just different in substance but in sound bite/slogan use. Can you imagine Trump supporters holding up signs saying “I’m one of the not very good people!”? (1) It’s not different in substance. It’s insulting to some group of people who are _Not Us_. (2) The insulted group doesn’t know the difference between “half” and “one in 10.” Yeah, they’re that dumb. (3) I CAN definitely imagine a fence-sitter saying, “Who does that Joe Biden think he is calling me ‘bad people’?!? Why didn’t he just come right out and say ‘DEPLORABLE’? That’s what he was thinking! He’s just as bad as Crooked Hillary!” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630/35 "2020-06-06T01:06:32Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > (1) It’s not different in substance. It’s insulting to some group of people who are _Not Us_. > (2) The insulted group doesn’t know the difference between “half” and “one in 10.” Yeah, they’re that dumb. > (3) I CAN definitely imagine a fence-sitter saying, “Who does that Joe Biden think he is calling me ‘bad people’?!? Why didn’t he just come right out and say ‘DEPLORABLE’? That’s what he was thinking! He’s just as bad as Crooked Hillary!” Hillary specifically called out Republicans. Biden did not. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630/36 "2020-06-06T03:44:08Z")
Well at this point the only person upset about it seems to be ThelmaLou. It’s barely registered a blip anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630/37 "2020-06-06T11:25:24Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Hillary specifically called out Republicans. Biden did not. That is the best point that anyone has made. > [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Well at this point the only person upset about it seems to be ThelmaLou. It’s barely registered a blip anywhere else. I told you I was extra sensitive. 🙂 I would be thrilled for it to turn out to be a nothingberder. I want to be wrong on this. I hope no one but me even noticed. The trouble is, every frickin’ thing anyone says is fair game for being quoted out of context down the road when the other side needs barbs and weapons. I do stand by my statement that Joe would do well not to draw any more “us v. them” lines. INCLUSIVITY is the watchword-- not THOSE PEOPLE OVER THERE WHO AREN’T LIKE US. Just avoid that kind of talk. Only leads to tears. And tear gas. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-news-for-the-biden-campaign-really/854630.md?page=1)