Joe Biden received a standing ovation from the audience during a campaign town hall in South Carolina on Friday after he said that ‘decency and honor’ were the ‘fire’ that was driving him in his campaign for president.
The former vice president was hosting an event in Sumter, South Carolina, a day before Saturday’s Democratic primary in the state.
During a question-and-answer session with the audience, Biden was asked by Marybeth Barry, a professor of theater and speech at the University of South Carolina, about what drives him.
Barry compared Biden to two of his rivals, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
‘For me, what I’m wondering is what drives you,’ she said, adding: ‘I know you talk about what you and Obama did, but what is your fire?
Joe Biden is seen right answering a question asked by Marybeth Barry, a South Carolina voter, during an event on Friday in Sumter
Barry, a professor of theater and speech at the University of South Carolina, asked the former vice president: ‘What is your fire?’
Biden then took the microphone from Barry and replied: ‘Decency and honor and restoring this country’s…’ At that point, the audience leapt in applause and interrupted Biden
‘Cuz you see Bernie, you see Elizabeth Warren, you see that fire.
‘That’s what I’m looking for,’ said Barry, an undecided voter who came to the event along with her husband, a Biden supporter.
‘What is your fire?’
Biden then took the microphone from Barry and replied: ‘Decency and honor and restoring this country’s…’
At that point, the audience leapt in applause and interrupted Biden.
‘No let me, what got me, no it’s an important question,’ Biden said during the loud ovation.
‘The fact that I’m not screaming like Bernie and waving my arms, or, like Elizabeth, is not lack of fire.
‘The fire that has always ignited my interest in every issue I care about is everyone is entitled to be treated with decency.’
Looking for victory in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary on Saturday, Biden said the ‘bigger the win, the bigger the bump.’
Biden needs a victory in Saturday’s South Carolina Democratic primary to have any hopes of catching Bernie Sanders, the senator from Vermont, the race for the most delegates
Voters headed to the polls in South Carolina on Saturday for the fourth contest in the Democratic presidential nomination race, with Biden looking to salvage his flagging White House hopes with a big win.
The former vice president is the firm favorite in the first state with a substantial African-American electorate to weigh in – but in nationwide polls he trails far behind front runner Bernie Sanders.
Both candidates will have a better picture of their overall prospects next week, when 14 states cast ballots on ‘Super Tuesday’ – with a third of the delegates who formally choose the Democratic candidate to face President Donald Trump in November up for grabs.
Biden – the onetime race leader who failed to notch a win in Iowa, New Hampshire or Nevada – said he hopes South Carolina will propel him into national contention.
But as he visited a polling site in Greenville, South Carolina, the former vice president insisted he doesn’t have to win by a particular margin if he hopes to catch Sanders.
People vote at a train station used as a polling station for the South Carolina primary in Denmark, South Carolina, on Saturday
‘I don’t think it’ll even be over after Super Tuesday,’ Biden said of the 15 contests looming next week.
‘I think it´s going to go on to states that are ones that I feel very good about.’
Sanders has led voting in the first three contests, but Biden is the heavy favorite to win in South Carolina.
The question is what kind of momentum that gives Biden heading into Tuesday, when mega-billionaire Mike Bloomberg will be on the primary ballots for the first time.
‘There´s all kinds of analyses that suggest that he may cut into my base, he may not cut into my base,’ Biden said of Bloomberg.
‘Michael’s gonna spend. I don’t know how much he’s spent already… I just don´t know how it cuts.’