Each week The Intercept’s Washington, D.C. bureau brings you one important or overlooked story from the political world. Bureau Chief Ryan Grim and a rotating cast of journalists, politicians, academics and historians tell you what the rest of the media are missing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
https://theintercept.com/deconstructed/
episode 3: Does Joe Biden Have a Corruption Problem?
On January 20th, The Guardian published an op-ed by New York attorney and law professor Zephyr Teachout entitled “‘Middle Class’ Joe Biden has a corruption problem – it makes him a weak candidate”. In it, Teachout argues that Biden’s history of taking big donations from the credit card, healthcare, and fossil fuel industries and then voting on their behalf makes him a poor choice against Trump in the Fall: “a lot of the voters we need,” wrote Teachout, “independents and people who might stay home – will look at Biden and Trump and say: “They’re all dirty.”” Teachout is a public supporter of Bernie Sanders and when the Biden camp took umbrage at the piece, Sanders publicly apologized for it. “It is absolutely not my view that Joe is corrupt in any way,” said the Vermont Senator. “And I'm sorry that that op-ed appeared.” But was that really the right reply from a candidate who has made the fight against big money in politics one of the cornerstones of his campaign? Zephyr Teachout joins Mehdi Hasan to discuss Joe Biden and the culture of corruption in Washington.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.