Joe Biden says it's 'like a Rubik's Cube' trying to figure Trump out


Vice President Joe Biden says he's torn when it comes to the presidential election — he still questions his decision not to run and regrets not going with a different message while campaigning for Hillary Clinton.
In a series of interviews with Jonathan Alter, published in The New York Times Magazine on Tuesday, Biden said he wished "to hell" he'd kept repeating the positive messages from his Democratic National Convention speech in July and said more about Clinton's plan for the middle class, as opposed to focusing so much on Donald Trump's lack of qualifications for office. He's also still coming to grips with not running for president himself — before his son, Beau Biden, died of brain cancer in 2015, he encouraged his father to run, but the vice president was told by several friends, including President Obama, that he wasn't ready emotionally. Biden concedes that he was "more broken" over his son's death than he thought he was at the time. "I don't know what I'd do if I was in a debate and someone said, 'You're doing this because of your son,'" he said. "I might have walked over and kicked his ass."
On Trump, Biden says the president-elect reminds him of the bullies from his childhood who mocked him for having a stutter, and wherever he goes, he's asked if "American leadership" is "going to continue." Biden admitted he's worried about what might happen should Trump be all bluster and no action when it comes to matters of global importance — if Trump "just stays behind the lines — hands off — it could be very ugly. Very, very ugly," he said, adding: "It's like a Rubik's Cube trying to figure this guy out. We have no freakin' idea what he's gonna do." Read more about Biden's thoughts on Trump, how he became close friends with Obama, and the advice he received as a freshman senator that helps him while working with Republicans, at The New York Times Magazine.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants