Former vice president Joe Biden said that a new super political action committee founded by his ex-aide is a "grassroots response" to his presidential campaign.
On Tuesday, Biden told MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell that he stood by his pledge to reject super PAC donations, characterizing the super PAC Unite the Country as a grassroots movement. He said the new pro-Biden super PAC, founded by former aide Larry Rasky, is made up of "Democrats who desperately do not want" President Donald Trump reelected in 2020.
"There's been a grassroots response out there to the fact that Trump has gone out and decided to not only ask the Russians and the Chinese to get involved in making sure I'm not the nominee, but he has—his folks are spending an awful lot of money," Biden said. "He's raised a lot of money, they tell me over $10 million spent in advertising so far, telling lies about me. And so this is an understandable response from Democrats who desperately do not want to see him re-elected president."
Rasky, who worked on previous Biden campaigns, filed paperwork to create Unite the Country, according to Politico. The super PAC has also been courting veterans of former president Barack Obama's campaigns to lead it in the presidential election.
Unite the Country is itself a reincarnation of For the People PAC, which was created in April before Biden officially announced his 2020 run. The PAC did not report raising or spending any money after Biden announced that he would not accept the help of PACs or super PACs.
Biden reversed his position on taking PAC money after struggling to secure small-dollar fundraising in the crowded Democratic primary.