Joe Biden
Bio |
Joseph Biden Jr. served as the 47th vice president from 2009-2017. He previously served as a Delaware senator and is a member of the Democratic Party |
Status and Position |
Current President of the United States of White House Executive Branch |
Political Party and Jurisdiction |
Democrat, White House Executive Branch |
Elections |
Election Jurisdiction |
Started Campaign |
Campaign Status |
Poll Rankings (of the vote) |
| 2020 Presidential Election United States | United States | Yes | Running | 50.6% |
Campaign Financing |
Biden has pledged not to accept campaign contributions from corporate PACs, lobbyists, and fossil fuel donors. |
Voting Rights |
Biden has been critical of the Trump Administration’s record on voting rights, and has drawn comparisons to the days of Jim Crow. His website indicates a commitment to expanding voting rights, but does not outline a specific set of policies to do so. |
Opinions on Issues
Issues |
Stance |
Summary |
| Universal Healthcare | Against | Has said that if elected he would work to improve the Affordable Healthcare Act. Unlike several other frontrunners in the Democratic race, Biden does not support Medicare-for-All. Instead, he proposes an expansion of the Affordable Care Act, with the addition of a public option. |
| Socialized Healthcare | For | Proposes an expansion of the Affordable Care Act. |
| Private Healthcare | For | Said if elected he would work to improve the Affordable Healthcare Act, not eliminate private insurance. |
| LGBT Rights | For | Is an advocate for LGBT rights. Believes marriage equality is an essential right; same-sex marriage was legalized during his tenure as Vice President of the United States. |
| Taxes | For | Supports several measures that would raise taxes, particularly for wealthy Americans. Biden is supportive of some form of increased taxation. He has spoken out against the 2017 tax cuts, and has advocated to close ‘tax-loopholes.’ As President, he would prioritize raising taxes on wealthy Americans, specifically in the form of a capital gains tax. |
| Flat Tax Rate | Against | Has advocated for progressive tax rates. Biden is supportive of some form of increased taxation. He has spoken out against the 2017 tax cuts, and has advocated to close ‘tax-loopholes.’ As President, he would prioritize raising taxes on wealthy Americans, specifically in the form of a capital gains tax. |
| Abortion | For | Biden Has revised opinion on abortion rights several times in his political career. Currently pro-choice. Biden has a mixed record on reproductive rights. He has described himself as personally pro-life, but does not believe that abortion access should be prohibited by the government. He has also spoken in support of Roe v Wade, but as a Senator, he voted for an amendment that would allow states to overturn the Supreme Court decision. He was supportive of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funds from being used to provide abortions, but shifted his position after recent criticism from reproductive rights organizations such as Planned Parenthood. He now says he would not seek to have it overturned. |
| Gun Control | For | Supportive of several gun control methods. Biden is supportive of gun control, and has specifically advocated for policies that would mandate universal background checks, ban assault weapons, and limit access to high-capacity magazines. He has also advocated for further development of 'smart guns'. |
| Assisted Suicide | Against | When asked if it should be allowed he said, “No.” Biden is supportive of gun control, and has specifically advocated for policies that would mandate universal background checks, ban assault weapons, and limit access to high-capacity magazines. He has also advocated for further development of 'smart guns'. |
| Government Interference | For | Supports measures such as gun control and environmental regulations. |
| Planned Parenthood | For | Believes Planned Parenthood provides essential healthcare services for women. |
| Welfare | For | Believes that a welfare state is valuable and should not be eliminated. Has refuted claims that welfare creates dependency. Instead, he argues that they provide opportunity. |
| Welfare | For | Supports allocating federal funds to embryonic stem cell research. |
| Death Penalty | Against | Would abolish the death penalty. Biden does not believe that capital punishment contributes productively to the justice system and would seek to abolish it. |
| Mandatory Prison Sentence | Nuance | Was instrumental in crafting original mandatory minimum policies, and even wrote a bill that mandated harsh mandatory minimums for crack cocaine. Recently, however, he has advocated to abolish mandatory minimums. |
| Military Spending | Against | Has rejected the position that military spending should outweigh domestic spending, therefore has supported reducing the military size. |
| War on Terrorism | Against | Would seek to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. |
| Foreign Policy International Interaction | For | Biden would recommit to foreign allies and global institutions if elected president. His experience chairing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and serving as Vice President make Biden one of the most experienced candidates in terms of foreign policy. As President, Biden would recommit to foreign allies and global institutions, preferring a collaborative form of international relations over an ‘America first’ approach. He would prioritize modernizing the military in order to properly address modern threats. |
| United Nations power | For | Has worked with the UN. |
| Nationalism | Against | Has criticized Trump's nationalist tactics. |
| Free Markets | Nuance | Has pro-trade positions but supports a tax on jobs that are outsourced including generally more regulation on businesses. Biden is described by many as a free-trade candidate due to his general support for free-trade agreements and his criticism of protectionist trade measures such as tariffs BUT supports taxes on companies that outsource to other countries and more business regulations than conservatives. Specifically, Biden has demonstrated extreme support for free trade deals such as NAFTA and the TPP. |
| Brexit | Against | Had hoped that the UK would remain in the EU. |
| Affirmative Action | For | Frequently defended affirmative action as a Senator. |
| Government Spending | For | Supports increasing government spending on social programs, but not on defense. |
| Charter Schools | Against | Has been critical of charter schools for taking public resources from public schools. |
| Common Core | Against | Does not support Common Core education standards. Biden opposes the universal education standards implemented by the Common Core. |
| Clean Energy | For | Believes the US should increase use of sustainable energy sources. Biden has spoken in support of the Green New Deal, but has released his own policy proposal to address the threat of climate change. If implemented, this policy would aim to reduce US emissions to net-zero by 2050. It would also aim to transition the US to 100% clean energy in the same time period. He would also rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement. |
| Religious Freedom | Nuance | Claims that he supports religious freedom but not in instances that religious institutions discriminate against LGBT. Supporter of religious freedom, but said "states have inappropriately used broad exemptions to allow businesses, medical providers, social service agencies, state and local government officials and others to discriminate against LGBT people." Biden's proposed "Equality Act" would limit the ability of religious institutions to provide employment, education, and other opportunities to only its members. Additionally, it is unclear whether this proposal would require religious institutions to provide membership in "good standing" to practicing LGBTQ even if it contradicts the religion's doctrine. |
| Separation of Church and State | For | Believes there should be separation between church and state. |
| Slavery Reparations | Nuance | Biden has agreed to study the subject in further detail as a result of pressure from the 2020 protests. |
| Border Control | Nuance | Opposes current border wall proposals and travel bans. Advocates for changes to strengthening asylum systems and allowing legal immigration, but supports adding more technology to manage border control. Biden supports making changes to the asylum system and opposes construction of the Southern border wall. He has claimed he would seek to strengthen border security by expanding funding for technological security and changes to visa system to make more potential immigrants eligible, and creating an oversight panel on ICE. |
| Passenger Profiling | Unknown | Is an advocate for racial equality, but has not been outspoken on this particular issue. |
| DACA | For | Would grant citizenship to DREAMers. |
| Sanctuary Cities | Nuance | Has spoken out against sanctuary cities, but has since shifted his position with the Democratic party. |
| Legalizing Marijuana | Nuance | Biden has been criticized for his support of legislation that has perpetuated the War on Drugs. For marijuana specifically, he supports decriminalization, but not legalization on the federal level. |