Former Vice President Joe Biden is recalling a personal tragedy that deeply influenced his faith in answering how his faith will help to make decisions for the nation.
Rev. Anthony Thompson, a pastor from Charleston, S.C — who lost his wife in a mass shooting in 2015 at a church in South Carolina — asked Biden at Wednesday night’s CNN town hall, “What is your faith? And how would you use your faith in making decisions for our nation?”
In response, the 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful recalled losing his wife and daughter in 1972, and son in 2015.
He noted that after visiting the church in 2015 with former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, he went back a second time to the church in South Carolina because he had just lost his son.
“I wanted some hope,” Biden said, adding, “Because what you all did was astounding.”
Watch the video below:
"My heart goes out to you": Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden reflected on how personal tragedy has affected his faith while connecting with a pastor whose wife died in the 2015 mass shooting at a church in Charleston, South Carolina #CNNTownHall https://t.co/Hb0AEn3uWV pic.twitter.com/eSdb9jIbS2
— CNN (@CNN) February 27, 2020
Biden continued to note he is a “practicing Catholic,” and quoted Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, “Faith sees best in the dark.”
“For me, it’s important because it gives me some reason to have hope and purpose,” Biden said of his faith, adding, “But the way I’ve been able to deal with when my wife was killed and my daughter were killed and then my son died, I’ve only been able to deal with it by realizing they’re a part of my being.”
He added, tearing up:
“My son Beau is my soul, and what I found was I had to find purpose. … Every day I get up I literally … I ask myself, ‘I hope he’s proud of me today,’ because he asked me when he was dying, ‘Promise me, dad … I know no one loves me more than you do, dad. But promise me you’ll stay engaged.’”
Biden’s son, Beau Biden died at 46 years old in May of 2015 from brain cancer.
Comments
7 responses to “Biden Recalls Emotional Story in Answering How His Faith Will Help in Making Decisions for the Nation”
These were huge personal tragedies where Biden stated he turned to God to get him through. But notice, he didn’t answer the question. He was asked, “how would you use your faith in making decisions for our nation?” He only spoke of times he turned to God to help him with his personal tragedies. He didn’t say anything about seeking God’s help or direction for our nation.
What in your opinion is the right answer? The president isn’t a religious leader so to me it makes sense his answer is at a personal level.
“making sense” is not needed in Trump world.
That’s a non-sequitur, but let’s ignore that and play the game. Let’s say Biden’s view is the same as yours. Then he could have said something like, “I don’t use my faith in making decisions for our nation. I do use my faith in my personal life.” In other words, he STILL could have answered the question. He choose not to.
Since Biden offered his experience where “he turned to God” inquiring minds want to know what they were.
Apparently the article was too long for your attention span, so I will help your inquiring mind. In 1972 when Biden lost his 30 yr old wife and 1 yr old daughter in an auto accident and in 2015 when his 46 yr old son died of brain cancer.
Once again the snippy know it all chirps in to the conversation. Where does he mention the answer to “And how would you use your faith in making decisions for our nation?”