Awful, deliberate division...

Biden blasts Trump's 'God-awful, deliberate division' of the country

By CAITLIN OPRYSKO

Joe Biden is putting his own spin on President Donald Trump’s “make America great again” campaign slogan.

In an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” the former vice president said that his motto would be: “Make America moral again.”

Biden, who has not been shy about his intention to criticize Trump at the outset of his campaign, ripped into the president's handling of the country while in office.

"Make America return to the essence of who we are, the dignity of the country, the dignity of people, treating our people with dignity," Biden said. "End this God-awful, deliberate division that’s being taken in order to — separating people to aggrandize his own power."

Outlining a potential Biden presidency, the former vice president stressed that unity would be one of three major prongs.

“We can’t stay fractured like we are now,” he said.

Biden was also pressed on recent allegations from women who said the former vice president was overly touchy with them, making them uncomfortable. Although Biden said he took responsibility for his actions and acknowledged that times have changed, he did not offer an apology.

The former vice president came under fire for his response to the allegations, which at first amounted to silence from Biden while his spokespeople issued statements. After he finally posted a video on Twitter addressing the issue personally for the first time, the former vice president caught heat for appearing to poke fun at it days later in a speech to union workers.

"Some people were wondering, do you really get it?" GMA anchor Robin Roberts asked Biden of the joke.

"I really do," he responded.

"Here's the deal — I've always thought that part of leadership, part of politics was listening to people, hearing them, making them feel comfortable," he continued. "It's my responsibility to be more sensitive to whether or not someone wants me to reassure them or wants to say hello or wants to show affection toward. And that's my responsibility."

Biden’s wife Jill defended his tactile approach to communication but said he would need to change his approach going forward.

"I think what you don't realize is how many people approach Joe,” she said. "Men and women, looking for comfort or empathy. But going forward, I think he's gonna have to judge, be a better judge, of when people approach him, how he's going to react. That he maybe shouldn't approach them."

She also acknowledged that there had been situations where a man imposed on her personal space and made her feel uncomfortable, adding that at least once incident had been notable enough to come home and tell her husband about it.

"I just sort of stepped aside. I didn't address it. I, like you said, I mean, things have changed. There was a time when women were afraid to speak out," Biden said of how she addressed it. "And I can remember specifically — it was in a job interview. And so that’s where we’ve moved from, that now if that same thing happened today, I'd turn around and say, 'What do you think you're doing?' So I think it's — it's totally different."

Asked how he planned to stand out in a field that now encompasses 20 White House hopefuls, the former vice president shot down the criticism that he’s running for Barack Obama’s third term in the White House.

Biden argued for building on the progress of the Obama administration and doubled down on his embrace of the former president. Online, Biden's campaign released a three-minute video cut with Obama’s 2017 speech awarding Biden with the Medal of Freedom.

The former vice president has led nearly every national and early nominating state poll since before he officially jumped into the race Thursday, and crushed his competitors in first-day fundraising totals. But while some in the Democratic establishment have eyed Biden as the most electable candidate in the expansive primary field, he’s faced questions about whether the party has shifted too far left in recent years for him to be named its standard bearer.

Last month, Biden told reporters he was “proud” to be an “Obama-Biden Democrat,” which he reiterated Tuesday.

“I’m really proud of serving with Barack, with the president,” Biden said on “Good Morning America.” “But look, it’s a new time, a new day. We’re moving on to deal with the things that are within our grasp, I’ve worked my whole life. Finishing the job on equality for women. Finish the job in terms of what we’re going to do about the environment, make bold new steps forward.”

He asserted that though Trump is overseeing a booming economy, he hadn’t done enough to help “the vast majority of the working-class and middle-class people” and asked Trump voters to consider whether or not they’d benefited “significantly” from his signature tax law.

“They know they’re not being treated very well. This is about restoring the dignity of work,” he said, “and it’s not happening right now.”

Jill Biden interjected with some veiled criticism of the several relative political newcomers who have jumped into the 2020 race, pointing out that Biden’s experience in the White House is unmatched.

“The one thing that does differentiate you is experience,” she said. “He doesn’t need any on the job training. He jumps right in, he’s been vice president, so from day one Joe can take everything.”