Biden rips Trump on immigration

Vice President Joe Biden lambasted Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump for a “sick message” on immigration, delivering the Obama administration’s strongest criticism yet of any of the GOP contenders.

Speaking Tuesday night at an Hispanic Heritage event at the vice presidential residence, Biden said Trump -- who has charged Mexico with sending rapists across the border -- has “absolutely denigrated an entire group of people, appealing to the baser side of human nature, working on this notion of xenophobia in a way that hasn’t occurred in a long time. Since the Know Nothing party at the end of the 19th century.”

But he assured his audience that Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric will not last.

“This will pass,” Biden said. “The Trump and that stuff you’re hearing on the other team, this isn’t about Democrat- Republican, it’s about a sick message. This message has been tried on America many times before. We always, always, always, always, always overcome.”

He argued that the “American people are with us” and urged the audience to listen to Pope Francis when he arrives next week.

Biden’s remarks come as he weighs entry into the Democratic presidential primary race amid Hillary Clinton’s slump in the polls.

This story was originally published September 16, 2015 at 9:17 AM with the headline "Biden rips Trump on immigration."