Misleading: Biden and “Dregs of Society”

However, Misbar’s investigation found that the quote has been misinterpreted. Biden never said that Trump supporters are the dregs of society. The clip, below, was taken from a Human Rights Campaign national dinner in 2018.

The clip was shared many times with headlines accompanying it that Biden is calling Trump supporters dregs of society. Out of context, it is easy to see why many believe those headlines to be true. However, in the full video (below), Biden says that after the Charlottesville attack he felt compelled to speak up against “forces of intolerance.”

In the attack, James Alex Fields Jr, a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi, drove his car into a crowd of counter-protestors, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring several others.

Biden relates what he sees as racial intolerance to anti-LGBTQ+ intolerance to say that “forces of intolerance” are the “dregs of society.” 

In his speech, he says: "And using religion or culture as a license to discriminate, demonizing the community and individuals to score political points, is no more justifiable around the world than it is here at home and our policies should reflect that. But despite losing in the courts and the court of public opinion, these forces of intolerance remain determined to undermine and roll back the progress you all have made. This time they, and not you, have an ally in the White House. This time they have an ally. They’re a small percentage of the American people. Virulent people. Some of them the dregs of society. And instead of using the full might of the executive branch to secure justice, dignity, safety for all, the president uses the White House as a literal — literal — bully pulpit. Callously — callously — exerting his power over those who have little or none."

While Biden does state that these “dregs of society” have an “ally in the White House,” he is not saying that Trump supporters are the dregs of society. Instead, he says that the dregs of society are intolerant forces.