Joe Biden says ‘10 to 15 percent' of Americans 'just not very good people’

Joe Biden proclaimed that 10 to 15 percent of Americans are "just not very good people." The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee made the remarks during a virtual town hall event Thursday night.

Biden was speaking to actor Don Cheadle and Ryan Wilson, the CEO of the Atlanta-based The Gathering Spot. Biden was discussing the importance of a president setting an example for the country on race issues.

"Do we really think that this is as good as we can be as a nation? I don't think the vast majority of people think that," the former vice president said. "There are probably anywhere from 10 to 15 percent of the people out there that are just not very good people.

"But that's not who we are," Biden continued. "The vast majority of people are decent. We have to appeal to that and we have to unite people — bring them together."

Based on Biden's statement, he believes that up to 50 million Americans are "not very good people."

Biden also hinted that President Donald Trump is dividing the nation.

"The words a president says matter, so when a president stands up and divides people all the time, you're going to get the worst of us to come out," Biden said.

Biden Says 10 to 15% of Americans Aren't Very Good Peoplewww.youtube.com

Many have pointed out that Biden's latest comments have parallels to Hillary Clinton's "basket of deplorables" remarks she made four years ago. During a campaign fundraiser in September 2016, Clinton called some Americans deplorable and irredeemable.

"We are living in a volatile political environment," the then-Democratic presidential candidate said. "You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right?"

"The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it," Clinton continued. "And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people — now how 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive, hateful, mean-spirited rhetoric. Now, some of those folks — they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America."

Hillary Clinton says half of Trump's supporters are in a "basket of deplorables"www.youtube.com