NOT LETTING GO

Woman With Obscure Grudge Against Joe Biden Buys $500,000 in Ads Attacking Him

The private citizen's beef with Biden appears to stem from a business dispute which hurt her son's business years ago.

Now, this is commitment to holding a grudge. A wealthy private citizen has bought $500,000 in ad time in early-voting states to attack Joe Biden over a business dispute that hurt her son's company years ago. Shirley Shawe's ad doesn't focus on the big 2020 issues—it centers around an argument over an obscure mediation system for Delaware-based corporations. Biden is presented as supporting the system in the ad, although his campaign says it misrepresents his position. Shawe's interest in the system reportedly stems from her son's costly legal issues with the so-called the Delaware Chancery Court system. “The ad misrepresents Vice President Biden's position in this exchange from 2005 by manipulating footage to suggest he means one court when he means another," said Jamal Brown from the Biden campaign. “It's a clear reminder of the way that third-party money poisons our politics with false attack ads, and it has no place in this race.”