Joe Biden: ‘I’ve Never Been Gainfully Employed In My Life’

Vice President Joe Biden is worried about facing retirement from public office, and admits to a crowd that he’s never held a private sector job.

“I’ve never been gainfully employed in my life,” he said as the audience laughed. “I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do.”

Biden made his remarks during the National Urban League’s Legislative Policy Conference, vowing to work with the organization even after he left office.

“I’ve never cashed a paycheck in my entire life, you think I’m joking, I’m not,” he added.

He added that he would need “career advice” from some of the people at the conference.

Biden appeared to have a chip on his shoulder from a comment his opponent for Vice President, now-Speaker Paul Ryan once said on the campaign trail about working at McDonalds and having dreams about his future.

“I remember the last campaign … I really got offended when one of the candidates said, that ‘I worked in a McDonalds and I had dreams.’ — Like I worked there and didn’t have dreams?” Biden said, before admitting that he had never worked at McDonalds.

“I didn’t have dreams in my neighborhood? Because my parents didn’t go to college I didn’t have dreams? A black kid, I played ball, he didn’t have dreams? His parents didn’t have dreams for them?” he continued.

Biden complained that more and more people today came away with a “distorted notion” that people from different backgrounds, means, or education that they dreamed “differently” from the rest of Americans.

“I’m serious. Think about it. Not a joke. Think about it,” he said. “Have you ever known a mother in a tough neighborhood that didn’t dream for their kid to go to college in their heart, even though she dropped out of school in fourth grade or she may be strung out?”

Biden criticized “institutional racism” that still existed in the country, making it harder for people to succeed.

“No one wants to say that. I know I sometimes speak out too loudly, sometimes, but I make no apologies for it. No. It’s not a joke. I make no apologies for it,” he said. “Sometimes it’s uncomfortable, but these are uncomfortable times.”