When Biden was asked during an interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle how he would combat Trump’s repeated claim that he was pushing a socialist agenda, the former vice president didn’t mince words.
Trump is “sort of like Goebbels,” Biden said, invoking the name of Joseph Goebbels, the mastermind of Nazi Germany’s propaganda machine. “You say the lie long enough, keep repeating it, repeating it, repeating it, it becomes common knowledge” among voters, Politico reported.
Biden went on to say that the president was using socialism as a way to distract from his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, while likening Trump to another authoritative figure from the past.
“I think people see very clearly the difference between me and Donald Trump,” Biden said. “Trump is clearing protests in front of the White House that are peaceful, you know, with the military. This guy is more Castro than Churchill.”
The Trump campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement, the Republican Jewish Coalition called on Biden to retract and apologize for the "egregious comment."
Biden said that he wasn’t worried when Trump said Wednesday he’d refuse to leave the White House if he were defeated in November, relegating the remarks to part of the same tactic he argued the president is employing as the campaign enters its home stretch.
“It's always about distraction with him,” Biden said as he expressed confidence that Americans would turn out in “large numbers” to vote. “It's going to be clear from the beginning exactly where this is going.”
Biden and Trump are set to face each other for the first time during this campaign at the first presidential debate in Cleveland on Tuesday evening.