Joe Biden Uses UK Election Results As Cautionary Tale Against Going Too Far To The Left

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for the presidency, pointed to the results of the latest United Kingdom general election as a cautionary tale of what happens when a political party moves too far to the left.

"Boris Johnson is winning in a walk," Biden told a San Francisco fundraiser Thursday, referring to Conservatives leader.

“Look what happens when the Labour Party moves so, so far to the left. It comes up with ideas that are not able to be contained within a rational basis quickly," he said.

Biden argued Johnson's victory would be used to assert that President Donald Trump is in a good political position.

“You’re also going to see people saying, ‘My God, Boris Johnson, who is kind of a physical and emotional clone of the president, is able to win,'” Biden said.

The Conservative Party coasted to its largest general election victory in 30 years -- winning 365 seats to Labour's 203 seats. The remaining seats of the 650-seat Parliament were won by minor parties like the centrist Liberal Democrats and the regional Scottish National Party. Because the Conservatives won a clear majority, they do not need to form an alliance with any minor parties to control the government.

In the race for the Democratic nomination, Biden is facing off with at least two opponents clearly to his political left -- Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Both candidates have argued for expansive left-wing programs, including single-payer national healthcare and tuition-free public colleges and universities.

Sanders in particular is close with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. After the 2017 general election, when Labour won seats from the Conservatives, Sanders called Corbyn for political advice.

“Bernie called me the day after our election here,” Jeremy Corbyn said in an interview published after the election. “I was half-asleep watching something on television. And Bernie comes on to say, well done on the campaign, and I was interested in your campaigning ideas. Where did you get them from? And I said, well, you, actually.”

On the day of the election, Sanders's campaign team sent a tweet encouraging voters across the Atlantic to support Labour: