Democratic nominee for the 2020 presidential election Joe Biden shared his views during an interview with the New York Times on January 16th. Biden was asked if he had any regrets allowing Silicon Valley to expand its influence during the Obama administration.”You may recall, the criticism I got for meeting with the leaders in Silicon Valley, when I was trying to work out an agreement dealing with them protecting intellectual property for artists in the United States of America.”
At one point, one of the little creeps sitting around that table, who was a multi- — close to a billionaire — who told me he was an artist because he was able to come up with games to teach you how to kill people.
It is unclear who exactly Biden was referring to but Kotaku speculates that it was in reference to Michael Gallagher, the then CEO of the Entertainment Software Association. Kotaku believes the meeting was in reference to 2009 meeting in which infringement of intellectual property was discussed with various entertainment executives. The list of attendees is available to access where Michael Gallagher was the only attendee from the game industry.
Another possibility is the Biden is referencing the 2012 summit with silicon valley executives of which former Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello was an attendee. Biden has met with other representatives form the gaming industry including ZeniMax’s Robert Altman or Epic Games’s Mike Capps. Its unclear who exactly Biden was referring to or to which meeting he was referencing.
Biden has expressed distaste with the gaming industry and even called for additional taxation on games that had violent depictions in 2013. President Trump has condemned video games for the multiple shootings over 2019. Biden did not blame video games but he claimed the violence in games was a contributing factor. Biden has yet to respond to the requests to clarify his statement.