--- title: Joe Biden: Clinton 'Naive' For Calling GOP Enemy description: Vice President Joe Biden rebuked former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday as “naïve” for calling Republicans her chief enemy. canonical: https://time.com/4080728/joe-biden-clinton-naive-for-calling-gop-enemy-hoping-to-govern/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-21T01:08:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:28.139Z article:section: Politics og:title: Biden: Clinton 'Naive' For Calling GOP the Enemy og:description: "It is necessary to end this notion that enemy is the other party" og:url: https://time.com/4080728/joe-biden-clinton-naive-for-calling-gop-enemy-hoping-to-govern/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6fd4ae2960858e54/698869210b72e346656e66d2/gettyimages-493364152.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden Speaks At White House Summit On Climate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Biden: Clinton 'Naive' For Calling GOP the Enemy twitter:description: "It is necessary to end this notion that enemy is the other party" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6fd4ae2960858e54/698869210b72e346656e66d2/gettyimages-493364152.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Biden: Clinton 'Naive' for Calling GOP the Enemy, Hoping to Govern > Sponsored content. 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It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ea53e055-eedd-46b8-bebd-679f49ae2c40&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 85,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 37.0% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: The Best Soundbites of Hillary Clinton in the First Democratic Debate [Watch (HLS stream): The Best Soundbites of Hillary Clinton in the First Democratic Debate](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UtLheLIU.m3u8) (1:11)  _Published 2015-10-14. Hillary Clinton emerged from the first Democratic presidential debate having given no ground to Bernie Sanders or her lesser-known rivals._ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Oct 21, 2015 1:08 AM UTC  Joe Biden looks on during a climate summit event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, on Oct. 19, 2015. Joe Biden looks on during a climate summit event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, on Oct. 19, 2015. Olivier Douliery—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Oct 21, 2015 1:08 AM UTC Vice President Joe Biden rebuked former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday as “naïve” for calling Republicans her chief enemy. Speaking at an event honoring former Vice President Walter Mondale in Washington, Biden, who is weighing challenging Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, offered his most emphatic critique of his party’s front-runner. “It is possible, it is necessary to end this notion that enemy is the other party,” Biden told the crowd of Washington notables that included members of Congress and former President Jimmy Carter. “End this notion that it is naïve to think we can speak well of the other party and cooperation. What is naïve is to think it is remotely possible to govern this country unless we can. That is what is naïve.” Clinton was asked last week to name which enemy she has made in her career that she was most proud of and responded with a list. “Well, in addition to the NRA, the health insurance companies, the drug companies, the Iranians; probably the Republicans,” she said. “How can you govern this incredibly diverse democracy without arriving at consensus,” Biden said, deepening the critique he first deployed Monday evening. “It’s simply not possible.” Coming hours after he revised his account of his contemporaneous support for the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, Biden also repeatedly highlighted his close relationship with President Barack Obama. “I spent 5-7 hours a day with him every day for the past seven years, except when we’re out of the country,” Biden said, increasing his estimate from “4-7” hours earlier in the day. “John Kerry is a great Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton is a great Secretary of State,” he added. “But there are times when only the vice president—if it’s known in his relationship with the president—can speak for the United States when the president can’t be there.” Raising his voice as he concluded his remarks, Biden praised Mondale, but emphasized his comments directed at Clinton. “It’s most important that everyone in this room understand the other team is not the enemy,” Biden said. “If you treat it as the enemy, there is no way you can ever resolve the problems we have.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4080728/joe-biden-clinton-naive-for-calling-gop-enemy-hoping-to-govern/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4080728/joe-biden-clinton-naive-for-calling-gop-enemy-hoping-to-govern/"},"headline":"Biden: Clinton 'Naive' for Calling GOP the Enemy, Hoping to Govern","datePublished":"2015-10-21T01:08:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:41:28.139Z","description":"\"It is necessary to end this notion that enemy is the other party\"","url":"https://time.com/4080728/joe-biden-clinton-naive-for-calling-gop-enemy-hoping-to-govern/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6fd4ae2960858e54/698869210b72e346656e66d2/gettyimages-493364152.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6fd4ae2960858e54/698869210b72e346656e66d2/gettyimages-493364152.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Vice President Joe Biden Speaks At White House Summit On Climate","caption":"U.S. Vice President Joe Biden Speaks At White House Summit On Climate","creditText":"Olivier Douliery—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4080728/joe-biden-clinton-naive-for-calling-gop-enemy-hoping-to-govern/","name":"Biden: Clinton 'Naive' for Calling GOP the Enemy, Hoping to Govern"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Best Soundbites of Hillary Clinton in the First Democratic Debate","description":"Hillary Clinton emerged from the first Democratic presidential debate having given no ground to Bernie Sanders or her lesser-known rivals.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/UtLheLIU/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-10-14T04:20:32.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UtLheLIU.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4080728/joe-biden-clinton-naive-for-calling-gop-enemy-hoping-to-govern/","duration":"PT1M11S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4080728/joe-biden-clinton-naive-for-calling-gop-enemy-hoping-to-govern/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```