Is Joe Biden a socialist revolutionary? I wish.


Does Joe Biden have a light machine gun and bandolier of ammunition stolen from a Ukrainian weapons depot, a flat cap, a scraggly beard, and red rose tattoo on his bicep? That was the implication at the Republican National Convention, where speaker and speaker portrayed him as a committed socialist revolutionary. "Make no mistake: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want a cultural revolution," said Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.). "If we let them, they will turn our country into a socialist utopia." Maximo Alvarez, a Cuban-American businessman, compared Biden to Fidel Castro. "I've seen ideas like this before and I'm here to tell you, we cannot let them take over our country," he said.
Speaking as a Bernie Sanders supporter, I wish Biden was a real radical, because huge problems like COVID-19, global warming, and galloping inequality require huge solutions. Unfortunately, he is not. Biden is one of the most moderate, business-friendly Democrats in the party, and has been for over four decades. As I covered at length here, when radicals like Sanders were warning about mass incarceration, inequality, slanted trade deals, bankruptcy reform, financial deregulation, and the Iraq War, Biden was voting for them.
But it seems baldfaced, up-is-down lies are simply part of the strategy the Republican Party has chosen for this campaign. In a way, it makes sense — it's no less ridiculous to argue that Joe Biden is a communist revolutionary than it is to say Donald Trump is a competent president who handled the coronavirus pandemic well.
Subscribe to 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.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.
-
How the woke right gained power in the US
Under the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Codeword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
By The Week Staff
-
Crossword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff
-
The anger fueling the Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez barnstorming tour
Talking Points The duo is drawing big anti-Trump crowds in red states
By Joel Mathis, The Week US
-
Why the GOP is nervous about Ken Paxton's Senate run
Today's Big Question A MAGA-establishment battle with John Cornyn will be costly
By Joel Mathis, The Week US
-
Biden slams Trump's Social Security cuts
Speed Read In his first major public address since leaving office, Biden criticized the Trump administration's 'damage' and 'destruction'
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Bombs or talks: What's next in the US-Iran showdown?
Talking Points US gives Tehran a two-month deadline to deal
By Joel Mathis, The Week US
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
By The Week Staff
-
Trump purports to 'void' Biden pardons
Speed Read Joe Biden's pardons of Jan. 6 committee members are not valid because they were done by autopen, says Trump
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Are we really getting a government shutdown this time?
Talking Points Democrats rebel against budget cuts by Trump, Musk
By Joel Mathis, The Week US
-
Will Trump lead to more or fewer nuclear weapons in the world?
Talking Points He wants denuclearization. But critics worry about proliferation.
By Joel Mathis, The Week US