Joe Biden Calls Notorious Homophobe Mike Pence a 'Decent Guy'

Joe Biden would like to take back his whole "calling Mike Pence 'a decent guy' thing," thank you very much!

Speaking at a global leadership forum in Omaha on Thursday, the former vice president called his successor "a decent guy," according to the Associated Press.

"A decent guy, our vice president," Biden said, praising "the character, integrity, and humanity I've seen up close." He paid similar compliments to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, calling him "a good guy," and also referred to the late Republican Senator John McCain as a "brother."

Some Democrats were quick to condemn Biden's praise for Pence, noting that there's nothing "decent" about the vice president's anti-LGBTQ+ record in office.

"[Joe Biden,] you've just called America's most anti-LGBT elected leader 'a decent guy,'" tweetedSex and the City star Cynthia Nixon, who attempted to unseat New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on the Democratic ticket last year. "Please consider how this falls on the ears of our community."

Nixon is referring to Pence's staunchly anti-LGBTQ+ record, which includes signing homophobic bills into law, proposing that Indiana divert federal HIV/AIDS funding to support electroshock therapy, and opposing Planned Parenthood, the largest trans health care provider in the United States.

Nixon's words appear to have gotten through to Biden.

"You're right, Cynthia," the former Vice President tweeted back. "I was making a point in a foreign policy context, that under normal circumstances a Vice President wouldn't be given a silent reaction on the world stage. But there is nothing decent about being anti-LGBTQ rights, and that includes the Vice President."

Earlier this week, The New York Timesreported that Biden was in the "final stages" of deciding whether or not he would run for president in 2020, joining an already crowded field of Democratic hopefuls that includes Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren. Unlike his would-be opponents, some of whom really want us to think they're more progressive than their records would indicate, Biden would likely take a more centrist "bridge the aisle" approach, the AP says, as has long been his M.O.

"It would be the greatest honor of my life to be president of the United States, but it's also something I have to make sure I could run a first-rate effort to do," he said, adding that he doesn't want to embark on "a fool's errand." He could make his decision as early as April, the Times says.

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