He’s flailing.
JIM GERAGHTY: Joe Biden Is Convinced a Pro-China-Trade Stance Is a Winner.
Biden has always supported expanded trade with China. In 2000, he voted to approve Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China. In a presidential debate in 2007, when asked, “Would you call for tariffs to protect American consumers from unsafe products from China? Are you willing to go there?” Biden answered, “I’m not. No, I’m not willing to go there. You don’t need to start a tariff war. All you have to do is enforce the law. Enforce the law.”
In a 2012 speech alongside then-Vice President Xi Jinping, he declared, “I believe that a rising China is a positive development — not only for China but also for the United States and the world. It will fuel economic growth and prosperity, and a rising China will bring to the fore a new partner with whom we can have help meeting the global challenges we all face.” In that same speech, Biden declared, “China has responded to our concerns about procurement policies and established a high-level body to strengthen enforcement of intellectual property rights as well.”
Supposedly, Biden’s strength as a nominee is his appeal to the Rust Belt Obama-to-Trump voters who put Trump in the White House. But staying soft on China and endorsing health benefits for illegal aliens would seem to put that appeal at serious risk.
See also: The Evitable Nominee.
HEY, IF YOU’RE GOING TO STEAL, STEAL FROM THE BEST: Joe Biden Plagiarizes Disgraced Michael Avenatti During Iowa Speech.
h/t SG