Biden says 'guys like Trump' scorn the working class. Trump says he prefers 'people who are less successful.'


At a CNN's town hall Thursday night outside Scranton, Pennsylvania, moderator Anderson Cooper asked Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden if he sees "ways that you've benefited from white privilege," setting up the question by noting that President Trump was a hard no with Bob Woodward. Biden said "sure" but pretty quickly shifted the conversation to class — and Trump.
"Growing up here in Scranton, we're used to guys who look down their nose at us," Biden said, "people who look at us and think that we're suckers, look at us and they think we don't — we're not equivalent to them. If you didn't have a college degree you must be stupid, if in fact you didn't get to go an Ivy school." He said it "bothered" him when CNN and other networks point out he'd be the first president in decades without an Ivy League education.
"Who the hell makes you think I have to have an Ivy League degree to be president?" Biden asked, drawing applause. "Guys like me, who were the first in my family to go to college ... we are as good as anybody else. And guys like Trump, who inherited everything and squandered what they inherited, are the people that I've always had a problem with, not the people who are busting their neck."
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.
As Biden was at his town hall in Scranton, Trump was holding a rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin. At one point, he went on an extended riff about how he has lost all his friends since becoming president. "I know a lot of important people," he said. "Actually, the people I like the best are the people that are less successful, because it makes you feel so powerful. I always say, never go out with a successful person, you understand." Peter Weber
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Trump officials reinstating 2 Confederate monuments
Speed Read The administration has plans to 'restore Confederate names and symbols' discarded in the wake of George Floyd's 2020 murder
-
'This is a coordinated campaign of harassment'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump nominates Powell critic for vacant Fed seat
speed read Stephen Miran, the chair of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers and a fellow critic of Fed chair Jerome Powell, has been nominated to fill a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
-
Israeli security cabinet OKs Gaza City takeover
Speed Read Netanyahu approved a proposal for Israeli Defense Forces to take over the largest population center in the Gaza Strip
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctions
The Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
Thailand, Cambodia agree to ceasefire in border fight
Speed Read At least 38 people were killed and more than 300,000 displaced in the recent violence
-
Israel 'pauses' Gaza military activity as aid outcry grows
Speed Read The World Health Organization said malnutrition has reached 'alarming levels' in Gaza
-
US and EU reach trade deal
Speed Read Trump's meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen resulted in a tariff agreement that will avert a transatlantic trade war
-
At least 12 dead in Thai-Cambodian clashes
Speed Read Both countries accused the other of firing first
-
US and Japan strike trade deal
Speed Read Trump signed what he's calling the 'largest deal ever made'
-
28 nations condemn Israel's 'inhumane killing' in Gaza
Speed Read Countries including Australia, France, Japan and the U.K. have released a joint statement condemning Israel's ongoing attacks