Former Vice President Joe Biden, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, was caught on cell phone video telling a Des Moines political activist to vote for someone else.
Democrat Ed Fallon, a member of Bold Iowa, had an exchange with Biden during a campaign stop while Fallon was waiting in line for a picture with the former vice president.
In the video, Fallon said to Biden, “I’m going to support you if you win the nomination because we gotta get rid of Trump.”
Fallon continued, “We got to stop building and replacing pipelines.”
Biden responded, “You have to go vote for someone else. If you’re not going to vote for me in the primary.”
Fallon said, “I’m going to vote for you in the general if you treat me right.”
Biden said, “I’m not. I’m not. Look, you asking for a picture with me and coming up and telling me you don’t support me.”
He continued, “I’m looking at the primary and a caucus. That’s what I’m looking for, OK? Now you believe that Bernie can do something by 2030?”
Fallon said, “I’m actually supporting Tom Steyer.”
While being interviewed about the exchange, Fallon said, “I did not expect to be told to leave, to go vote for somebody else.”
When asked about Biden pressing on his chest, poking him, and grabbing his jacket, Fallon said, “It was not appropriate interaction with anybody. I mean, if I’d done that to him, the security would have been all over me.”
He added, “I don’t think he can beat Trump and you have him actively telling people like me, ‘Don’t vote for me, vote for somebody else, Well, that’s not helpful, that’s not helpful at all.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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