Joe Biden appears to be shifting his stance on super PACs. On Thursday, Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, released a statement that implied the campaign is now open to political action committee donations—despite Biden’s continued opposition to their ability to significantly impact elections. “As president, Joe Biden will push to remove private money from our federal elections. He will advocate for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and end the era of unbridled spending by Super PACs,” Bedingfield wrote. The top aide appeared to imply that the campaign’s choice to welcome PAC money is in an effort to even the playing field against President Trump, who has utilized super PACs. “Until we have these badly needed reforms, we will see more than a billion dollars in spending by Trump and his allies to re-elect this corrupt president,” she wrote. “In this time of crisis in our politics, it is not surprising that those who are dedicated to defeating Donald Trump are organizing in every way permitted by current law to bring an end to his disastrous presidency.”
Biden’s Democratic rivals—who have fundraised more money than the former vice president—were quick to criticize his decision. “[Biden] has been unable to generate grassroots support, and now his campaign is endorsing an effort to buy the primary through a super PAC that can rake in unlimited cash from billionaires and corporations,” Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a statement. “That’s not how we defeat Trump. It’s a recipe to maintain a corrupt political system which enriches wealthy donors and leaves the working class behind.”
Read it at The Washington Post
