Joe Biden says 'poor kids' are 'just as talented as white kids'

The Des Moines Register

Speaking in Iowa on Thursday night, former Vice President Joe Biden said "poor kids" are "just as talented as white kids," before correcting himself.

Biden was addressing the Iowa Asian and Latino Coalition, which has been meeting with Democratic presidential candidates as it prepares to make an endorsement next week.

Speaking about his education plan, which would triple federal investment in lower-income school districts, Biden said the country should challenge students and increase the number of advanced placement programs in those schools.

"We have this notion that somehow if you’re poor you cannot do it. Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids," Biden said, before adding: "Wealthy kids. Black kids. Asian kids. No, I really mean it. But think how we think about it."

"They can do anything anybody else can do, given a shot," Biden added.

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Biden spoke to the group for more than 90 minutes, answering questions about gun violence, climate change, unions, immigration and the criminal justice system.

Earlier in the day, Biden visited the Iowa State Fair, where he spoke at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox and told reporters he believes he can get gun control legislation passed as president.

In a statement, Kate Bedingfield, Biden's communications director, criticized the campaign of President Donald Trump, which posted the video, saying they were trying to change the subject from the president's own comments.

"Vice President Biden misspoke and immediately corrected himself during a refrain he often uses to make the point that all children deserve a fair shot, and children born into lower-income circumstances are just as smart as those born to wealthy parents," Bedingfield said in the statement.

At a stop in Boone on Friday, Biden again spoke about education and the need for universal preschool to help close the funding gap between wealthy and non-wealthy school districts.

"We have to make sure every child, every child gets a great education regardless of their race. Not just wealthy white children, but all children," Biden said. "Poor, rich whatever their background, get an education. Look, whatever their parents’ income, zip code, disability, it shouldn’t be the determining factor. We have to eliminate the funding gaps that exist between majority white and nonwhite districts, between majority wealthy and not wealthy districts."

After the event, an NBC reporter asked Biden about the Trump campaign's use of his comments from the night before.

“It’s the second anniversary of Charlottesville coming up and they need to divert something," Biden said, referencing a 2017 neo-Nazi and far-right protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, where one man killed a woman who was among a group of counter-protesters.

Biden has said Trump "has fanned the flames of white supremacy" with his comments, including when Trump said that there were "very fine people" on both sides in Charlottesville.

Biden also said he can withstand the scrutiny he's getting for his comments.

"Yes, I have to. It's legitimate scrutiny. Fire away," he said.

Julián Castro, one of Biden's competitors for the Democratic presidential nomination, spoke to reporters after his Soapbox speech about Biden's comments on Friday morning.

"I don’t believe the Vice President was being racist," Castro said. "Like a lot of us when we’re speaking, he just got tripped up in his words."

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.