Vice President Biden doubled-down on comments he made suggesting violent crime
rates would continue to rise if President Obama’s jobs bill is not
implemented when he was confronted over the reference.
Biden referred to the crime rate when stumping for the American Jobs
Act twice, first in Michigan last week and then in Philadelphia on
Tuesday.
In a video posted by Human Events Wednesday the vice president defended his remarks.
“Let’s get it straight, guy. Don’t screw around with me,” Biden says in the video. “I said rape was up three times. Go look at the
numbers. Murder is up, rape is up, burglary is up. That’s exactly what I
said. … Murder will continue to rise, rape will continue to rise, all
crimes will continue to rise [if the jobs bill is not passed].”
Biden told a crowd in Michigan that the jobs bill would
support increased law enforcement, emphasizing “the direct correlation
between the reduction in cops and firefighters and the rise in concerns
of public safety.”
In Philadelphia, Biden blasted critics for suggesting the jobs bill
is a temporary fix for the economy.
“Well, let me tell you, it's not
temporary when that 911 call comes in and a woman's being raped and a
cop shows up in time to prevent the rape,” he said. "It’s not temporary
to the guy whose store is being held up has a gun being pointed to his
head. If a cop shows up and he's not killed, that’s not temporary to
that store owner. Give me a break, temporary! I wish these guys who
thought it was temporary, I wish they had some notion what it was like
to be at the other side of a gun, or a 200-pound man standing over you
telling you to submit.”
For more on Biden's comments and the GOP's reaction, click here.
