Biden says he has the credentials to criticize Cheney for his remarks. | AP Photos Biden hits back at Cheney

Vice President Joe Biden swung at his predecessor on Wednesday, arguing that Dick Cheney is wrong about the country’s spending priorities.

“I saw Vice President Cheney saying that we should be spending more money on our military, not on food stamps and highways,” Biden told the annual gathering of Generation Progress, the youth-focused wing of the Center for American Progress, referencing remarks that Cheney made at a Monday event hosted by POLITICO.


“When it comes to the safety of our warriors, we have to spend the money,” Biden said. “But this idea of it’s somehow inherently more important to spend money on the military than on domestic needs is a policy I reject, I reject out of hand.”

He continued: “And I believe, like you do, it’s important to feed our people. It’s as important to do that as it is to fund our military. Do I believe it’s important to invest in the arteries that make possible for our economy to flow and succeed and our infrastructure? Yeah, I do. Do I believe it’s time for our combat troops to be out not only Iraq but also Afghanistan? Yes I do.”

At Monday’s POLITICO Playbook event featuring three members of the Cheney family, the former vice president said he hoped to see the next president “turn around the whole trend with the United States military” and to boost spending on defense, rather than cutting it.

“That ought to be our top priority for spending. Not food stamps, not highways, or anything else. Your number one responsibility as president is to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” Cheney said, before taking aim at President Barack Obama. “He’s the commander-in-chief and he’s absolutely devastating the United States military today.”

Before leveling criticism at Cheney, Biden made clear that he believes he has the credentials to do so.

“I don’t take a backseat to anyone when it comes to defending our nation and taking care of our troops …. I don’t take a backseat to anyone, including Vice President Cheney, on the issue of our military. I know what it’s like to have a son stationed in Iraq for a year … but I believe that if we’re going to send American warriors to fight, as we were back then in Iraq, we had to provide them what they needed,” Biden said.