Eric Swalwell helped insure that the second night of the 2020 Democratic primary debates were full of sass, brass, and dunks.
“I was six years old when a presidential candidate came to the California Democratic Convention and said: ‘It’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of Americans,’” Swalwell, a 38-year-old candidate, said when he was asked how he would deal with automation. “That candidate was then-Senator Joe Biden.”
You could almost feel Biden’s team backstage getting the ice out of the freezer to help heal that burn.
“Joe Biden was right when he said it was time to pass the torch to a new generation of Americans 32 years ago,” Swalwell said. “He’s still right today. If we’re going to solve the issues of automation, pass the torch. If we’re going to solve the issues of climate chaos, pass the torch. If we’re going to solve the issue of student loan debt, pass the torch. If we’re going to end gun violence for families who are fearful of sending their kids to school, pass the torch.”
And in quite possibly the lamest response, Biden said that, yeah, he wants to keep his torch.
“I’m still holding on to that torch,” Biden said.
As Ben Casselman, a data reporter for the New York Times pointed out on Twitter, “Biden could hand the torch over to the next generation and the recipient would still be nearly 20 years older than Swalwell.”
The only candidate younger than Swalwell is Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who comes in at 37 years old, just a year younger than Swalwell. Biden, on the other hand, is 76 years old.
