Throughout the campaign, President Donald Trump has claimed that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would implement a socialist agenda and a massive tax hike for Americans.
During an interview with Fox 11 News, Biden was asked to address concerns that he would pass socialist policies if elected.
“I beat the socialist. That’s how I got elected. That’s how I got the nomination,” Biden said referring to his former primary challenger and self-described democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
He added, “Do I look like a socialist? Look at my career, my whole career. I am not a socialist.”
He continued to address his tax plan, “I’m not trying to punish to anybody, but the idea that 19 corporations making billions of dollars pay zero and taxes?”
“[Trump] knows these guys know how to game the system, the gaming is going to be over when I’m elected,” he added.
Biden has vowed that if he wins the election, Americans making less than $400,000 a year will not have their taxes raised.
Watch the video below:
Biden tells @fox11news: "I beat the socialist, that's how I got elected, that's how I got the nomination. Do I look like a socialist? Look at my career, my whole career. I am not a socialist."https://t.co/uE9VjrfrJB pic.twitter.com/AeYLpNB0Fy
— Johnny Verhovek (@JTHVerhovek) September 22, 2020
Trump has repeatedly claimed that Biden would be “trojan horse for socialism,” as IJR reported.
During his speech at the Republican National Convention, Trump claimed, “Biden is a Trojan horse for socialism. If Joe Biden doesn’t have the strength to stand up to wild-eyed Marxists like Bernie Sanders and his fellow radicals, then how is he ever going to stand up for you?”
He added that if Biden wins the election, “the radical left” will gain power and move to defund police departments around the country and “make every city look like Democrat-run Portland, Oregon.”
It is worth noting that Biden has not called for defunding police departments. Instead, he has called for police reforms.
Biden has previously pushed back on Trump’s claim that he supports a socialist agenda, as IJR reported.
During a speech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in August, Biden said, “You know me, you know my heart. You know my story, my family’s story. Ask yourself, do I look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters? Really?”
“I want a safe America, safe from COVID, safe from crime and looting. Safe from racially motivated violence, safe from bad cops. Let me be crystal clear, safe from four more years of Donald Trump,” he added.