Joe Biden faces backlash over resurfaced video of him praising Dick Cheney: 'He is a decent man'

A clip from 2015 in which Joe Biden praises Dick Cheney as a “decent man” is making the rounds on social media. The clip is being discussed in the wake of Mr Biden’s comments about Mike Pence, who he called a “decent guy” in a recent speech.

Mr Biden’s comments came during a discussion with Walter Mondale, who was vice president under Jimmy Carter. Asked about receiving guidance from his predecessor, Mr Biden told the crowd “I actually like Dick Cheney, for real. I get on with him. think he’s a decent man.”

Mr Biden went on to describe how Mr Cheney and his wife had welcomed them into the Vice Presidential residence and explained to the then-incoming VP how he’d chosen to operate under former president George W Bush. Mr Biden acknowledged that “Cheney had a very different idea about how it [the vice presidency] functioned internally, but he was extremely helpful” to him regarding internal protocol.

Responses to the newly surfaced video have been critical online, where many are frustrated to see the current frontrunner in the Democratic primary show show support for a man widely regarded as detrimental to Democratic causes.

"Without any exaggeration, Dick Cheney is one of the most evil men to set foot in this world, a man behind whom a trail of war crimes follow, and Biden think he's a 'decent man,'" wrote Sana Saeed in a popular tweet quoting the video. "Is this your man, Democrats?"

A number of people are also dismayed to see Mr Biden assert that personal encounters with Mr Cheney as more indicative of his decency than his actions in office.

In fact, many Democratic supporters might have been happier with Mr Mondale’s response, which comes just after Mr Biden’s in the full-length video. When asked for his view on Mr Cheney, Mr Mondale answered candidly “Little bit different.”

“He was kind to me, kind to Joe, but he said early on that he was going to take things to the dark side,” continued Mr Mondale, “and I believe he really did.”