Joe Biden Says Trump’s ‘Silence’ After Charlottesville Makes Him ‘Complicit’ (Video)
“To not have an outright flat condemnation of that – the silence was deafening”
Jennifer Maas | November 14, 2017 @ 9:02 AM
Last Updated: November 14, 2017 @ 9:05 AM
Joe Biden joined Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show” for the first time since December 2016, when he suggested the American people give President Donald Trump an “even shot” after the election. Now, after everything Trump has done in office, Biden has thrown out that recommendation.
The former vice president went after POTUS’ response to the alt-right-organized rally in Charlottesville in August that left one counter-protester dead.
“Charlottesville, for me, was a moment where I thought silence would be complicity,” Biden said of the now infamous Unite the Right rally.
“The idea that you would see, in America… Nazis carrying flags, spouting the same bile about Jews that was spouted in Germany in the 30’s, and then these guys crawling out from under rocks, carrying torches, and to not have an outright flat condemnation of that – The silence was deafening,” Biden said of Trump’s reaction to the events of the disturbing rally, in which a protester was run down by a white supremacist.
“And then when the comparison was made to those who were protesting, I found it reprehensible,” the former vice president said, slamming the sitting president for his response, which included a reference to how there was “hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides.”
Biden added that he believes Trump has created fear about the stability of the nation.
“I think that a lot of folks in the audience, my guess is, when the president was elected and the political people he gathered around him came into play, you kind of thought it was, well, maybe amusing or a little bit embarrassing sometimes,” Biden said about the late night show’s crowd.
“But it did not go to the heart of who we were,” Biden said. “But, I lay you 8-to-5 – how many of you are now worried about the stability of the republic? How many are now worried about this new phony nationalism and its ‘us against them’? How many are worried about this populism designed to essentially undermine the essence of the Bill of Rights?
“I think people are worried,” Biden continued. “And, by the way, it goes beyond President Trump, in my view.”
You can watch Biden’s interview in the video above.
15 Stars Who Imagined Violence Against Donald Trump, From Kathy Griffin to Pearl Jam (Photos)
Since the election, several celebrities have voiced their displeasure -- even anger -- with the Trump administration. Some have gone so far as to suggest violent measures. From Robert De Niro to Snoop Dogg, here are some left-leaning noteworthy people who have fanned themes of violence toward Trump and the GOP.
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Mickey Rourke
In a TMZ video from 2015, this boxer-turned-actor directed his rage toward Trump, calling him a "big-mouthed bitch bully," saying he would "love 30 seconds in a room with the little bitch." Rourke has also expressed a desire to "give [Trump] a Louisville slugger."
In late February 2016, the host of Comedy Central's now-canceled "The Nightly Show" joked about then-candidate Donald Trump: “I don’t want to give him any more oxygen. That’s not a euphemism, by the way. I mean it literally. Somebody get me the pillow they used to kill [Supreme Court Justice Antonin] Scalia and I’ll do it — I’ll do it!"
George Lopez
During the Republican primaries in March 2016, the Mexican American comedian tweeted a cartoon image of former Mexican president Vincente Fox holding the decapitated head of Donald Trump aloft, with the caption "Make America Great Again."
Marilyn Manson
Shock-rocker Marilyn Manson had to take his turn in the Trump-bashing festivities. In a teaser video for his song, "Say10," released just after the 2016 election, a Trump-like figure wearing a suit and a red tie lies decapitated on a concrete floor, in a pool of his own blood.
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Rosie O'Donnell
In July 2017, O'Donnell tweeted out a link to a game called "Push Trump Off A Cliff Again." This made many conservatives want to push her off a cliff, not POTUS.
Madonna told a crowd of thousands at the Women's March on Washington in January 2017 that she had “thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House." The singer's profanity-riddled jab at the Republican administration provoked the anger of many conservatives.
The actor is not afraid to express his disdain for the commander in chief. De Niro confirmed to ABC's "The View" in February 2017 that he would like to punch Trump in the face. He clarified earlier comments, saying "It wasn’t like I was gonna go find him and [really] punch him in the face, but he’s gotta hear it."
Snoop Dogg's music video for "Lavender," released in March 2017, (literally) paints POTUS as a clown and orchestrates his death. At the video's end, the "Gin and Juice" rapper points a gun at the harlequin Trump figure and shoots. But instead of a bullet, a red flag that reads "Bang!" fires out of the gun.
The comedian landed in hot water in May 2017 after photos surfaced of her holding a fake bloody, decapitated Trump head. Griffin was promptly dropped from her annual New Year's Eve gig by CNN. Toilet stool company Squatty Potty also pulled its ads featuring Griffin. Trump himself called the photos "sick" and tweeted that his youngest son, Barron, was "having a hard time" with the images. Griffin later apologized.
The nonprofit theater staged a modern adaptation of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" in May-June 2017 that made conservative viewers want to revolt. In the production, a Trumplike figure playing the title role is stabbed to death by a band of angry Senators. The Public Theater subsequently lost sponsorships from Delta Airlines and Bank of America.
The musician's new video, released in June 2017, is simultaneously nostalgic and dystopian. In 1980s cartoon fashion, a giant Transformer-like Trump morphs into a swastika/dollar sign and wreaks havoc on a city before meeting a fiery, explosive demise.
During an appearance at the U.K.'s 2017 Glastonbury music and arts festival, the actor tore into the president -- "I think Trump needs help" -- and then made an ill-considered joke: “When was the last time an actor assassinated a president?” Depp claimed his joke was misconstrued and eventually issued an apology.
Asked what he'd serve at a peace summit between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, the celebrity chef told a TMZ video crew in 2017: "Hemlock."
CNN
Big Sean
In February 2017 rapper Big Sean rapped a verse about killing the President on his "I Decided" album. The lyrics are, “And I might just kill ISIS with the same icepick/That I murder Donald Trump in the same night with."
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Pearl Jam
At a show in Montana in August 2018 that served as a fundraiser for Sen. Jon Tester, the Seattle-based rockers released a cartoon poster commemorating the show that featured a bald eagle picking at the rotting corpse of President Trump on the White House lawn.
Some celebrities have been more than outspoken in their criticism of the Republican president
Since the election, several celebrities have voiced their displeasure -- even anger -- with the Trump administration. Some have gone so far as to suggest violent measures. From Robert De Niro to Snoop Dogg, here are some left-leaning noteworthy people who have fanned themes of violence toward Trump and the GOP.