Joe Biden attacked Tom Steyer during Tuesday night's Democratic presidential debate in South Carolina over the billionaire's decision in 2004 to invest in private prison systems "after he knew that in fact what happened was they hog-tied young men."
"My good friend on the end of this platform, he, in fact, bought a system that was a private prison system after he knew that in fact what happened was they hog tied young men in prison here in this state," Biden said.
He then added that Steyer has "said he was proud of his accomplishment."
Steyer immediately took exception to the former vice president's comments.
"I bought stock in a prison company thinking they do a better job, and I investigated that, and I sold it," Steyer said.
Steyer has since acknowledged what he considers a "mistake" while on the South Carolina campaign trail, though he suggested during the debate that he didn't have prior knowledge about the treatment of inmates at certain private prisons. He also noted at the debate that he worked to end cash bail in California.
"I have worked tirelessly on this, and you know I'm right," Steyer told Biden.
Steyer's hedge fund, Farallon Capital Management, sold its stock in the Corrections Corporation of America in 2006 after it was worth $90 million. After receiving criticism from Yale University students about controversial investments, Steyer said in a letter to them, "We are proud of the work we have done, and continue to do" for the portfolios of universities, according to Politico.
Biden's campaign pointed to an article from Mother Jones in 2000 describing how a South Carolina juvenile facility had children "hog-tied and beaten by an overworked, undertrained staff, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court."
While Biden is correct that Steyer had invested in private prisons and details of questionable conditions were publicly available before the hedge fund bought stock in 2004, it cannot be confirmed that Steyer knew about the poor conditions before making the purchase.
Biden incorrectly said Steyer was "proud" of the private prison investments. Steyer was instead defending his company and expressing pride in the work his hedge fund did on behalf of colleges.
Steyer's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
