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Biden Trashes Millennials in His Quest to Become Even Less Likable

"Give me a break," he said of young people who "think they have it tough."
Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images

In an apparent effort to make himself an even less appealing 2020 contender, former Vice President Joe Biden had some harsh words for millennials while promoting his new book on Wednesday. Here's what he said in a conversation with Patt Morrison of the LA Times:

"The younger generation now tells me how tough things are. Give me a break. No, no, I have no empathy for it. Give me a break. Because here’s the deal guys, we decided we were gonna change the world. And we did. We did. We finished the civil rights movement in the first stage. The women’s movement came to be. So my message is, get involved. There’s no place to hide. You can go and you can make all the money in the world, but you can't build a wall high enough to keep the pollution out. You can't live where—you can't not be diminished when your sister can't marry the man or woman, or the woman she loves. You can't—when you have a good friend being profiled, you can't escape this stuff. And so, there's an old expression my philosophy professor would always use from Plato, 'The penalty people face for not being involved in politics is being governed by people worse than themselves.' It's wide open. Go out and change it."

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Let's take this line by line.

The younger generation now tells me how tough things are. Give me a break. I have no empathy for it. Give me a break.

A January 2017 analysis of Federal Reserve data found that millennials, who are better educated than baby boomers, have a median household income of $40,581, meaning they earn 20 percent less than boomers did when they were our age. We're crippled with student debt to the point where home ownership is a pipe dream. So here's the deal, Joe—I'll give you a break if you give me some money.

Here’s the deal guys, we decided we were gonna change the world. And we did.

Who is "we"?

We finished the civil rights movement in the first stage. The women’s movement came to be.

Not sure what this even means. It's good that there are activists fighting the worst sorts of injustices? Sure, that's good.

So my message is, get involved. There’s no place to hide.

Who is hiding? I am not hiding.

You can go and you can make all the money in the world, but you can't build a wall high enough to keep the pollution out.

Considering the stats I just dropped about millennials, I'd actually have a really hard time making all the money in the world.

You can't live where—you can't not be diminished when your sister can't marry the man or woman, or the woman she loves. You can't—when you have a good friend being profiled, you can't escape this stuff.

Uh, sure…

There's an old expression my philosophy professor would always use from Plato, "The penalty people face for not being involved in politics is being governed by people worse than themselves." It's wide open. Go out and change it.

A recent study found a huge uptick in millennial involvement in politics since the 2016 election. I wonder how many of them will vote for Biden in the 2020 primary?

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