May 23, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is defending Vice President Joe Biden against criticism of his remarks that Republicans would put voters "back in chains."
Obama tells People magazine the remarks need to be seen in their regulatory context and gives his running mate a vote of confidence.
Obama says that the nature of modern campaigns is to blow up remarks into something they are not.
Biden made the comments Tuesday in Danville, Va., while saying that Republicans want to deregulate financial institutions -- or, as Biden put it, to "`unchain Wall Street."
Hundreds of black people were in the audience when Biden added, "They're going to put y'all back in chains."
Obama says Biden had no other meaning in mind but that consumers won't be protected if Wall Street reforms are repealed.
