Former Vice President Joe Biden responds to a question Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019, during a Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by ABC at Texas Southern University in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Never go full Hillary. But that’s exactly what Joe Biden did during last night’s debate.

The former VP has been trying to be all things to all people, which means throwing meat to the establishment liberals who squee over him (see Jennifer Rubin), but also trying to throw a bone to the left-wingers from time to time. On a national stage like last night’s debate, Biden managed to get backed into a corner and then thought this was a good idea.

"As president, would you be willing to sacrifice some of that growth even though it could potentially displace thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of blue collar workers in the interest of transitioning to that greener economy?"

BIDEN: "The answer's yes."

WOW. pic.twitter.com/maukpeaBnp

— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) December 20, 2019

Biden answers yes to putting “hundreds of thousands” of workers out of their jobs to please the AOC base. That’s a pretty stunning statement. At least Hillary had the good sense to say she would retrain the coal workers who’s lives she destroyed.

And what exactly is a “green economy” in this case? Burning more money in subsidies to companies like Solyndra? Punishing the oil industry? Banning cow farts? We don’t really know because Biden, like most of the candidates aside from Bernie, is purposefully vague in his policy proposals. But the truth is that Biden clearly would have preferred to not answer this question at all. The moderators, being the liberals they are, want this purity test.

Somewhere, Donald Trump burst out laughing when he heard this, because Biden’s statement is as ready made for a campaign ad as anything I’ve ever witnessed. If the choice is between Biden parroting left wing propaganda about destroying hundreds of thousands of jobs or Donald Trump’s economy, that’s going to be an easy choice for swing voters in the mid-west.