Biden: I've Never Criticized The Tea Party, Just Those Times I Said They Were Crazy And Acted Like Terrorists

Matt Vespa

Vice President Joe Biden was stricken with amnesia during his interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews last night when he said that he never criticized the Tea Party.

“You never heard me criticize the Tea Party,” said Biden. “And the reason I didn’t is there’s a lot of people who are scared and beat up and what happens—they lost a lot in what happened during the Bush administration,” he added.

Yeah, in 2011, you likened the Tea Party to terrorists, Joe:

Vice President Joe Biden joined House Democrats in lashing tea party Republicans Monday, accusing them of having “acted like terrorists” in the fight over raising the nation’s debt limit, according to several sources in the room.

Biden was agreeing with a line of argument made by Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) at a two-hour, closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting.

“We have negotiated with terrorists,” an angry Doyle said, according to sources in the room. “This small group of terrorists have made it impossible to spend any money.”

Now, Biden denies that he used the word terrorism, telling CBS News’ Scott Pelley at the time that he allowed Democrats to vent their frustration over obstacles during budget talks with Republicans:

Biden told Pelley he let lawmakers "vent" about the deal, which includes spending cuts but may not include revenue increases. (Some liberal House Democrats have vowed not to back the deal.) But he says he did not assert that he agreed with the terrorism comparison.

"What happened was there were some people who said they felt like they were being held hostage by terrorists," he said. "I never said that they were terrorists or weren't terrorists, I just let them vent."

Okay—he says it’s not true. There’s a lot of latitude when closed-door meetings are involved in any situation. Regardless, in 2014, he again criticized the Tea Party, calling them “crazy.”

Whatever the case, it’s clear that Biden has criticized the Tea Party. Whether it’s calling them crazy or likening them to terrorists, he’s lashed out at them; good, hard working people who just want smaller government, less taxes, less regulations, and more jobs. The horror! The horror!