That’s a bit rich: Biden says paycheck doesn’t matter, jobs are ‘about dignity’

Democrat hopeful Joe Biden says jobs aren’t just about money, but his words rang hollow for critics who shot back with reminders about low wages and the former vice president’s son getting a cushy gig at a Ukrainian oil company.

Biden’s latest pitch to voters promised to bring “dignity” back to the working middle class.

“A job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about dignity. It’s about being able to look your kid in the eye and say everything is going to be okay – and mean it. Too many people today can’t do that,” Biden tweeted on Friday. 

Although the US economy is continuing to boom in terms of job growth, half of Americans still work in low-wage professions. Middle class financial struggles is a hot topic on the campaign trail among Democrats seeking their party’s 2020 presidential nomination.

Taking into consideration the accusations that Biden got his own son a $50,000-a-month job with the controversial oil company Burisma while he was vice president, the words from the prospective candidate didn't exactly go down well.

“Lessons in the ‘dignity of work’ from the guy whose unqualified kid got a $3+ million energy board gig in Ukraine after daddy’s admin backed a coup there,” journalist Aaron Mate commented.

Some also called out Biden for not understanding the need the average person has for their paycheck.

“Many jobs are almost entirely about the paycheck, because we need money to live. Meanwhile, much of the most important work in the world is done for free, and isn't even called work because people aren't paid to do it. And there's no dignity in poverty. We should end it with UBI [universal basic income],” wrote Scott Santens, a UBI advocate with over 100,000 followers. 

Universal basic income, a system by which every citizen is paid a certain amount of money to pay for basic necessities, is one of the main talking points of Andrew Yang, one of Biden’s rivals for the nomination. Some Twitter users were quick to point out that Biden was basically borrowing his latest talking point from his competitor.

“Whoever is responsible for this Twitter, delete this tweet. It is a copy of @AndrewYang's speech,” one person wrote, while linking to a clip of Yang speaking at a debate.

“@JoeBiden is #YangGang. Makes sense, he really is the best candidate in the field,” another user wrote. 

Others pointed out that Biden’s tweet came on the heels of the newest jobs report showing more gains, as both employment and wages continue to rise.

“Seen the jobs numbers today Gramps?” said one Twitter user, referencing the November report that boasted 266,000 new jobs being created and an unemployment rate below five percent. 

Biden’s jobs tweet comes just after the former vice president took his gaffes to a whole new level while campaigning in Iowa on Thursday. Not only did he get confused about where he was at one point and the decade during which he was vice president, but he also challenged an attendee to a pushup contest and called him “fat” and a “damn liar” when the man dared to question Biden about his son Hunter’s dealings in Ukraine.

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