PELHAM NH. – JUNE 19: Jill Biden, wife of Democratic candidate for President Joe Biden, talks with people at a house party on June 19, 2019 in Pelham, NH. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
PELHAM NH. - JUNE 19: "Winnie", a 5-year-old golden retriever circles Jill Biden, wife of Democratic candidate for President Joe Biden, as she talks with people at a house party on June 19, 2019 in Pelham, NH. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
PELHAM NH. - JUNE 19: Jill Biden, wife of Democratic candidate for President Joe Biden, poses for a photo with college students Morgan Pratt, Alexa Gustavsen and Angela Getty at a house party on June 19, 2019 in Pelham, NH. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
PELHAM NH. - JUNE 19: Jill Biden, wife of Democratic candidate for President Joe Biden, pets "Winnie", a 5-year-old golden retriever as she talks with people at a house party on June 19, 2019 in Pelham, NH. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
ROCHESTER NH. - JUNE 19: Jill Biden, wife of Democratic candidate for President Joe Biden, greets old family friend John Broderick after talking with educators on June 19, 2019 in Rochester, NH. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
ROCHESTER NH. - JUNE 19: Jill Biden, wife of Democratic candidate for President Joe Biden, talks with educators on June 19, 2019 in Rochester, NH. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
ROCHESTER NH. - JUNE 19: A sign welcoming Jill Biden, wife of Democratic candidate for President Joe Biden, on June 19, 2019 in Rochester, NH. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
PELHAM NH. - JUNE 19: Jill Biden, wife of Democratic candidate for President Joe Biden, greets people at a house party on June 19, 2019 in Pelham, NH. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
PELHAM NH. - JUNE 19: Jill Biden, wife of Democratic candidate for President Joe Biden, talks with people at a house party on June 19, 2019 in Pelham, NH. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
ROCHESTER NH. - JUNE 19: Jill Biden, wife of Democratic candidate for President Joe Biden, talks with educators on June 19, 2019 in Rochester, NH. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
ROCHESTER NH. - JUNE 19: Jill Biden, wife of Democratic candidate for President Joe Biden, talks with educators on June 19, 2019 in Rochester, NH. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
ROCHESTER NH. - JUNE 19: Jill Biden, wife of Democratic candidate for President Joe Biden, talks with educators on June 19, 2019 in Rochester, NH. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
PELHAM, N.H. — Jill Biden is hitting back at Democratic criticism leveled against her husband, Joe Biden, for his bipartisan overtures to Republicans in his latest presidential bid.
The former vice president and current Democratic front-runner has been slammed for touting compromise on the campaign trail, drawing criticism that he’s naive and out of touch.
But Jill Biden, campaigning on her husband’s behalf in New Hampshire on Wednesday, said, “He can break down silos; he can bring people together. And I know he’s been criticized for saying he would work with Republicans, but like, why not? To make things work, you have to work together.”
While Biden said voters want to see her husband’s “statesmanship” back in the White House, she failed to address several controversies that some say still have them withholding their support.
As Biden stood on a sunny back deck in Pelham, her husband was under fire for his comments about working with two segregationist lawmakers, former U.S. Sens. James Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia.
“He never called me ‘boy,’ he always called me ‘son,’ ” Joe Biden said of Eastland at a New York City fundraiser Tuesday. He also called Talmadge “one of the meanest guys I ever knew.”
“We got things done. We didn’t agree on much of anything. We got things done,” Biden said.
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker on Wednesday said he was “disappointed that (Joe Biden) hasn’t issued an immediate apology.”
“You don’t joke about calling black men ‘boys,’ ” said Booker, another presidential hopeful. “Men like James O. Eastland used words like that, and the racist policies that accompanied them, to perpetuate white supremacy and strip black Americans of our very humanity. Vice President Biden’s relationships with proud segregationists are not the model for how we make America a safer and more inclusive place for black people, and for everyone.”
In Pelham, Jill Biden also called on young voters to defend women’s rights, saying, “Older women in this world have fought so hard for your rights and you’re just taking them for granted and you’re letting them slip through your fingers, and before you know it those rights are going to be gone.”
But Biden didn’t address the allegations of inappropriate touching that continue to plague her husband.
Attendee Chuck Rossi, a Pelham independent, said he wants “to find a way to overlook that,” but doesn’t think Joe Biden “has addressed it well enough.”
