Comments from vice president Joe Biden during his second campaign tour stop have raised the level of animosity between the two presidential campaign camps to its highest level yet.
Addressing a crowd in southwest Virginia Tuesday night, Biden told the crowd that Republicans were trying to “put ya’ll in chains.” Though the crowd was of mixed race, some have perceived Biden’s accusation as racially charged, invoking images of slavery. Though Biden has denied these claims, he admitted to choosing the wrong word. Romney’s campaign has already come out condemning Biden’s rhetoric, referring to it as “a new low” for President Barack Obama’s campaign.
“Romney wants to, he said in the first 100 days, he’s going to let the big banks once again write their own rules. Unchain Wall Street,” Biden said to the crowd of around 800. “They’re going to put y’all back in chains.”
According to Biden, his use of “chains” is related to terminology used by Republicans, including Romney’s new running partner Paul Ryan, who was quoted as saying “renewed commitment to limited government will unshackle our economy” in response to Obama’s 2011 state of the Union address. In an effort to control the negative spin put on is original quote, Biden attempted to clarify its meaning.
“The last time these guys unshackled the economy, to use their term, they put the middle class in shackles. That’s how we got where we are,” Biden said. “You’re the ones that got nailed. All of America, except the very few.”
Romney appeared on CBS This Morning the day after Biden’s comments, criticizing both the ideas and choice of words put forth by the Democratic campaign.
“No one is talking about deregulating Wall Street and no one is talking about the kinds of languages this White House is bringing forward,” he said. “Instead, we’re talking about what [it is] going to take to get the economy going and put people back to work.”
