Even in this time of shameless, cheap politics, Joe Biden’s presidential campaign kickoff is the most shameless and cheapest stunt of all.

The guy has been in Washington and part of the problem for more than 45 years, yet all he has to offer now is that he is not Donald Trump. Just like every single other Democrat seeking the nomination.

Even more disgusting is Mr. Biden’s willingness to politicize a tragic event in which three innocent people were killed in order to advance his own political career.

The horrifying events in Charlottesville nearly two years ago where some nut ran down an innocent woman and two state troopers were killed trying to keep the peace have absolutely nothing to do with America’s future or the presidency. But why let a travesty like that go to waste without profiting off it politically, right, Joe?

This should come as little surprise, I suppose. After all, this is the same guy who once told an audience of black Americans in southern Virginia — the very descendants of slaves — that Republicans would “put y’all back in chains” if they failed to make sure Joe Biden got reelected as vice president.

Someone, please pass the hand sanitizer.

Same guy, also, who shamelessly invoked “tragedy” in his own family to explain away his gross habit of groping grown women and little girls. Sniffing their hair.

Originally, Mr. Biden was going to actually kick off his campaign with a live appearance in Charlottesville, but someone told him that would be too tacky, even for him. So he decided to just invoke the tragedy in a video posted on the World Wide Web instead.

And it was as dishonest as it was tawdry.

Mr. Biden peddled the tired old lie that in the days after Heather Heyer was run down and killed by a crazed driver from Ohio, President Trump called neo-Nazi thugs in Charlottesville “very fine people.” This is a flat-out lie. The president repeatedly and forcefully denounced the nasty neo-Nazis. In addition, he condemned all the violent protesters.

As president — something Mr. Biden has no personal experience with — Mr. Trump was talking about the larger issue that sparked violent protesters on both sides to turn a peaceful event into mayhem. Ostensibly, they were debating about what to do with a Confederate monument — a matter that has been debated endlessly for decades without incident.

On both sides of that debate, Mr. Trump said, there are “very fine people.”

But what does the truth have to do with anything anymore? After two years of nonstop lies from the mainstream press propped up with fantasy about collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, why worry about cheap little lies like this?

Especially if it helps Joe Biden run for president one more time.

When you have no good issues to run on, try ham-fisted emotional appeals aimed at stoking up racial tensions. That’s page one of the Democratic political playbook.

Actually, there is one issue gaining steam inside the Democratic Party ever since presidential front-runner Bernie Sanders proposed it: Allow violent felons to vote from prison.

In other words, these people want the racist nut who killed Heather Heyer to be allowed to cast a ballot in the next election, probably canceling out the vote the young woman would have cast herself. If she had not been killed.

⦁ Contact Charles Hurt at churt@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter @charleshurt.