Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign is now touting his time in “the hood” finding young women who could learn to code.

The Democrat told an Iowa audience on Wednesday that he is particularly proud of his work in cities such as Detroit to train Americans for an evolving economy.

“Through a program, we had through community colleges, we can teach people how to code,” Mr. Biden said, the Washington Examiner reported Thursday. “We went out, literally into the hood, and they found, turns out, 54 [people], they happened to be all women, the vast majority were women of color, no more than a high school degree, aged 25-54, and a third of them only had GEDs.”

The newspaper noted an audible “yikes” from the crowd when Mr. Biden referenced his time in “the hood,” although claps greeted his conclusion.

Mr. Biden’s overall message echoes his “worker first” initiative launched by the University of Delaware’s Biden Institute in September 2017.

“Economic transformations due to rapid advances in technology have created not only significant anxiety but also a legitimate debate about whether there will be sufficient jobs to sustain a vibrant middle class,” the Democrat wrote during its launch. “I believe we can — we must — build a future that puts work first. My father used to have an expression. He’d say, ‘Joey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about your dignity. It’s about your self-respect. It’s about your place in your community.’ And every coal worker in West Virginia or steelworker in Scranton who lost their job will tell you they didn’t just lose a paycheck but much more.”

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