MSNBC Host Slams Joe Biden For Park Avenue Comments In Pennsylvania Town Hall

MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle on Friday slammed Democratic nominee Joe Biden for his comments about New York’s Park Ave. During a CNN town hall on Thursday evening in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, Biden used the posh Manhattan street to portray President Donald Trump as a Wall Street elitist.

"I really view this campaign as a campaign between Scranton and Park Ave. And I really mean it,” Biden said, responding to a question from a Scranton man who worked at a cancer center and earns less than $15 an hour.

"Because, you know, the way we were raised up here in this area, an awful lot of hard-working people bust their neck. All they ask for is a shot, just a shot. All that Trump can see from Park Ave. is Wall St," Biden continued. "All he thinks about is the stock market."

Ruhle, who worked for Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank before her media career, criticized the comments, characterizing it as a “divide-and-conquer approach.”

"Joe Biden said yesterday that his campaign is Scranton versus Park Ave. Why is he going with this divide-and-conquer approach? That's Trump's thing," Ruhle said in on-air comments. "What about a message for all Americans? I don't live on Park Ave., but I live pretty close to it. And do you know how I got there? Working my butt off. He doesn't want my vote?"

Soledad O’Brien, a former CNN anchor, also struck back after Biden tweeted the phrase.

“Or... both. NYC’s Park Avenue is amazing. No need to knock it. Would be nice to have a President who sees every American as worth fighting for. Thank you,” O’Brien tweeted in response to Biden.

The comments from Ruhle and O'Brien may conflict with many Democrat voters who feel that the White House for too long has had a warm relationship with corporate donors and the wealthy at the expense of middle-class workers and those struggling on low hourly wages.

Biden spent the first 10 years of his life in the rust belt city of Scranton. He has criticized Trump for enacting tax cuts in favor of the wealthy.

Biden's comments appear to be similar to the strategy of Barack Obama in 2012. During the 2012 race, Obama’s reelection campaign attempted to portray Republican candidate Mitt Romney as an out-of-touch elitist, criticizing him for comments he made about Americans dependent on government aid.

In a town hall on Tuesday, Trump touted the stock market.

"Stocks are owned by everybody," Trump said. "Look, we're having a tremendous thing in the stock market, and that's good for everybody, but people that aren't rich own stock and they have 401(k)'s."