Joe Biden Defends Himself for Praising Republican: ‘Bless Me, Father, for I Have Sinned’
Former Vice President and current 2020 Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden defended himself for praising a Republican lawmaker during a key midterm race, sarcastically telling a crowd “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.”
Speaking at the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting Thursday morning, Biden addressed a recently-resurfaced controversy over a paid speech he gave three weeks before the 2018 midterm election, at which he praised Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI).
“Look, I get in trouble, I read in the New York Times today that I, one of my problems is, if I were to run for president, I like Republicans,” Biden said, then crossed himself while joking “Okay, well, bless me Father, for I have sinned.”
He was referencing a Times report that showed Biden was paid $200,000 by the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan to speak at the event.
“But you know, from where I come from, I don’t know how you get anything done unless we start talking to one another again,” Biden added.
“There was a big article today, Fred Upton, I went out and spoke at an event, and he was there, and I praised him,” he explained. “And he was in a race, but I praised him about the fight against cancer. His vote and his ability to join me and the, there’s a CURES Act that was passed that was over 8 1/2 billion dollars, to fight cancer. And it mattered, save people’s lives, and he stepped up. He and three other Republicans stepped up and helped us pass it.”
“And so I acknowledged that, and now I’m a, I don’t know what I am,” Biden said.
Upton was not one of the three Republican co-sponsors of the bill, but voted for the bill and had introduced an earlier version of it. The 21st Century CURES Act passed the House by an overwhelming 392-26 vote.
In the October speech, Biden called Upton “one of the finest guys I’ve ever worked with,” and said Upton “is the reason we’re going to beat cancer.”
Watch the clip above, via C-Span.
