Unearthed footage from a 2001 Senate hearing shows that former Vice President Joe Biden really, really hates raves.
On Wednesday, a Twitter user by the name of Nando showcased the clip, which shows the 2020 presidential hopeful railing against electronic dance music (EDM) nearly two decades ago.
“Great Big Bulldozer” pic.twitter.com/kmqSalesrs
— Nando (@nandorvila) June 19, 2019
Biden was speaking in support of bipartisan legislation he introduced known as RAVE or the “Reducing Americans’ Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act.” The bill called for cracking down on the recreational drug ecstasy, often associated with the rave scene.
Amid his testimony, Biden suggested that towns should pass new ordinances that would criminally penalize rave organizers.
“The promoter, the guy who owns the building, I would put the son of a gun in jail. I would change the law,” Biden said at the time.
The politician also bragged about his involvement in authoring the “crackhouse legislation” in 1986, a reference to the Emergency Crack Control Act, which Biden argued could be used to shut down any location known to contain drugs.
“There’s no doubt about where these raves take place–in the middle of the desert. Arrest the promoter, and find a rationale unrelated to drugs,” Biden said. “For example, I’m the guy who authored the crackhouse legislation. We can use the crackhouse legislation to tear down these buildings.”
In an effort to further emphasize his hatred towards raves, Biden suggested that his crackhouse bill could even be used to bulldoze down rave sites.
“In rare cases under the law that exists federally you can literally bulldoze down their business,” Biden said. “I’m looking forward to the first time I see it happen. Great big bulldozer. Just bulldoze it down.”
One Twitter user reacted to the footage by converting Biden’s testimony into a techno song, which we can only hope will be played at raves.
https://twitter.com/spacehashes/status/1141412781918314498
Others simply trolled the former senator for his over-the-top view towards combatting illegal drug use.
Mr Senator TEAR DOWN THIS RAVE
— Revolver Swagscelot (@GoodSmoocher) June 19, 2019
Questions were also raised as to why Biden thinks there are buildings in the desert housing raves.
He thinks Burning Man has a building, also, apparently.
— Viciada em BBB🐆🤏🏹 (@talicos) June 19, 2019
It currently remains unclear how powerful the rave voting block is and whether Biden’s comments will affect his presidential run.
READ MORE:
- Voter behind Biden finger photo says they were ‘shocked’ by candidate’s actions
- Biden’s new climate change plan looks a lot like Beto’s
- Trump and Biden are fighting for the attention of older women on Facebook
- What have 2020 Democrats said about Alabama’s abortion ban?
Got five minutes? We’d love to hear from you. Help shape our journalism and be entered to win an Amazon gift card by filling out our 2019 reader survey.
