Joe Biden has said he will raise taxes for those earning more than $400,000, but ‘no new taxes’ beyond that.
In his first joint interview with Kamala Harris, his running mate for the 2020 election, Biden said the Republican narrative about him planning to impose sweeping new taxes was incorrect.
He said 90 per cent of businesses were ‘Mom and Pop businesses’ employing less than 50 people, and vowed to help them.
Asked about the repeated attacks by Donald Trump on his mental health, Biden, 77, laughed.
‘Watch me. Mr President, watch me,’ he said.
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‘Look at us both – what we do, what we say. Come on.
‘I think it’s a legitimate question to ask anybody over 70. But what I say is: watch me.’
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris sat down with ABC News for a joint interview aired on Sunday
He also said he had no intention of being a one-term president, even though there are claims he intends to run as a ‘transition candidate.’
When asked by host David Muir if he only plans to serve one term, Biden replied: ‘no.’
‘You’re leaving open the possibility that you’ll serve eight years if elected?’ Muir asked Biden, who was officially nominated as part of the events last week to appear on the Democratic ticket.
‘Absolutely,’ the former vice president said.
And he said he was deeply concerned about Trump’s non-committal when it comes to respecting the election result.
Asked what he would do if Trump refuses to leave the White House, Biden said he did not think it would come to that.
‘The American people will not let that happen,’ he said. ‘No one is going to let that happen.’
He said: ‘I’m going to represent everyone whether they voted for me or not. That’s what presidents are supposed to do. I’m going to reach out to people.’
He said he wanted to ‘heal’ and ‘unite the country’.
He promised to bring his political opponents into the debate, to search for solutions to America’s problems.
On COVID-19, Biden was fiercely critical of Trump for not ‘listening to the science’ to save lives amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden said Trump was guilty of ‘walking away and not dealing with the solutions’ to COVID-19.
He said he did not blame Trump for the pandemic, but did blame him for responding by suggesting drinking bleach and resisting face mask orders.
‘This isn’t about freedom. It’s a patriotic responsibility to protect your neighbors,’ he said.
‘We cannot get this country moving until we beat the virus.’
Biden, 77, grew animated when asked about Donald Trump’s failures as president
Harris, 55, dodged questions about her previous attacks on Biden during the primary debates
Asked if he would shut the country down again, if scientists recommended it, he replied: ‘I would shut it down. I would listen to the science.’
Biden said he had been ‘pleading’ with the president for ‘a plan’.
He said: ‘Somebody should be in charge of distributing the vaccine. It’s about a plan. How?’
Biden said he was convinced he could win the election without campaigning as Trump has, with mass rallies.
Biden pointed out that people – such as former presidential candidate Herman Cain – have died after attending Trump’s rallies.
‘It’s about being responsible,’ he said.
In an ABC News/Ipsos poll taken August 11-12, Biden had 40 per cent favorability and in the same poll taken August 21-22 – after the first-ever fully virtual Democratic National Convention – his approval jumped to 45 per cent.
Also before the convention, Biden had a net negative favorability rating, meaning more people disapproved of him than approved, a stat that has now flipped.
By comparison in the 2016 ABC News/Washington Post poll, then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s rating jumped 6 percentage points from before the convention to after.
Clinton’s favorability rating landed at 48 per cent, but her unfavorability rating still stood at 50 per cent.
One of Biden’s most passionate moments was when asked about Trump’s description of the neo-Nazi Charleston protesters as being ‘very good people’ on both sides.
‘No president has ever said that,’ he said, with a flash of anger.
Harris, 55, was asked about her attack on Biden during the debates, in a fiery row over racism.
Biden and Harris clashed repeatedly during the primary debates in the summer of 2019
‘What is hurtful to me is that black families own one tenth of the wealth of white families,’ she said.
She said it was ‘hurtful’ that systemic inequalities existed.
Pressed again about her remark, when asked whether she would be Biden’s running mate, that he would be a great running mate for her, she insisted she was happy.
She said Biden had been a great vice president, and was her role model for how to do the job.
She dismissed the question of their previous debate stage rivalry as irrelevant, saying she was focused now on winning the election.
‘Joe Biden and I are completely aligned on the goal. Making sure everyone has healthcare. We have both gone through that, on a personal level.
‘Joe’s speech (at the DNC) said it all – we are facing four major crises here. And one of them is the climate crisis.’
Harris said she was not proposing eliminating private healthcare insurance.
Biden added: ‘I don’t think we have any disagreement on the basic question of what we have to do as a nation.’
Harris was asked about Biden’s much-criticized May comment that African American Trump voters ‘ain’t black’.
Biden admitted on Sunday night: ‘I shouldn’t have said that.’
Harris said: ‘When Joe and I talked about the state of black America, he has a deep sense of understanding, and knowledge.’
She said Biden understood Black Lives Matter, and was unafraid to say it.
‘We see the people,’ she said. ‘And I think that’s what the people deserve.’