When asked about his most surprising friendship at the Democratic debate, Joe Biden should have just told the truth

As the fourth Democratic debate came to a close, after three(!) hours of intense discussion between 12(!) candidates on foreign policy, gun control, impeachment and other pertinent topics, CNN’s Anderson Cooper pitched in with a seemingly strange question: he asked the candidates about their past friendships. In the wake of the controversial revelation of Ellen DeGeneres’ friendship with former President George W Bush, Cooper asked, “Ellen defended their friendship by saying, ‘We’re all different…and we’ve forgotten that that’s OK that we’re all different.’ In that spirit, we’d like you to tell us about a friendship that you’ve had that would surprise us, and what impact it’s had on you and your beliefs.”

Seeking cheap electoral points, Joe Biden, grinning, stepped forward to proudly announce his “surprising friendship” was his relationship with the late Senator John McCain. But Biden, whose past is full of controversial decisions from supporting the Iraq war to promoting mass incarceration, has a long list of far more surprising relationships. The way in which the former VP immediately jumped to name McCain — the second mention of the night after Amy Klobuchar’s nod to the late Republican — also highlighted the bizarre ability white men in positions of power have of whitewashing their past and avoiding accountability. Much like George W Bush’s rebranding as a peace-loving art fan, John McCain’s single vote to prevent the repealing of Obamacare has somehow wiped his legacy of a regressive voting record.

Stoked in a saccharine reminiscence of his and Barack Obama’s legacy, Biden’s selective memory repeatedly fails to address those more provocative policy decisions as well as his personal relationships. Some surprising and damaging friendships Biden failed to mention include those with staunch segregationists. Those friendships, which Biden continues to defend, particularly threaten his support with the African American community. Biden, since his 1973 arrival in Senate, forged close ties with racist colleagues such as James O Eastland, Strom Thurmond and Herman Talmadge, pushing through various policies which discriminatorily targeted black communities, including the 1994 Crime Bill, as well as sitting on a number of committees and sub-committees dealing with criminal justice and prisons.

More recent controversial relationships Biden didn’t mention are those he has with officials in Saudi Arabia. Earlier this year, Biden pledged to reject donations from special interest groups and foreign lobbyists — yet has been discreetly accepting donations through his political action committee, American Possibilities. Of these donations, Biden has been accepting money from John Breaux, a registered representative to Saudi Arabia. Worried that he had thrown all his eggs into one basket by alienating Democratic candidates, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has attempted to lobby the Democratic party’s aspiring nominees — and it seems some are open to that. Biden’s long-standing friendship with the Gulf state also includes previously supporting the “worst humanitarian crisis” in the world through the war in Yemen.

The CNN/New York Times joint debate disgracefully lacked significant discussion about the climate crisis, allowing Biden to dodge revealing other controversial friendships. He could have also declared Andrew Goldman, co-founder of fossil fuel company Western Liquified Natural Gas, as an unlikely friend. In fact, Biden attended a fundraising event hosted by Goldman just last month, abandoning yet another pledge of forgoing money from the oil and gas industry.

Another notable mention from Biden’s controversial past relationships includes the banking sector, a relationship he holds so dear that it once earned him the title of "The Senator from MBNA [now owned by Bank of America]". Biden has always had a close relationship with the banking sector, including playing a part in the bailout of banks during the economic crisis early in the Obama administration. Though he has acknowledged that many feel angry about such “socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor” policies, he stands by his decision to help enact them.

Seemingly oblivious to the Democratic Party’s cultural shift towards democratic socialism (led successfully by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren), Biden’s archaic views could make him one of the last neoliberal candidates to stand on a Democratic stage. Given Sanders’ surge in polls over Clinton throughout the 2016 campaign after each attack on her ties to the banks, it is understandable that Biden has wanted to downplay this relationship. But the truth will out.

Biden is not the only candidate to avoid mentioning his more controversial relationships when asked: Tulsi Gabbard avoided mentioning meetings with Steve Bannon, for example. The former Vice President does, however, have a long history of appalling relationships which have clearly impacted his beliefs and policy positions. What’s entirely unsurprising is the fact that the only one he wants to talk about is his friendship with John McCain.