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Biden to Trump: 'Grow up Donald, time to be an adult'

US Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a public memorial service at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, on December 17, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Outgoing US Vice President Joe Biden has harshly criticized Donald Trump, saying it is time for the president-elect to “grow up” and act like “an adult.”

Biden made the comments in an interview with the PBS News on Thursday after Trump mocked a top-ranking Senate Democrat and disparaged the US intelligence community over their alleged allegations that Russia had interfered in the November presidential election.

"Grow up Donald, grow up, time to be an adult, you're president. You've got to do something, show us what you have,” he said.

"You're going to propose legislation, we're going to get to debate it, let the public decide, let them vote in Congress, let's see what happens. It's going to be much clearer what he's for and against and what we're for and against," Biden noted.

Earlier in the day, Trump had described Chuck Schumer, the Democrat Senate minority leader, as the "head clown."

Referring to as “mindless”, the outgoing vice president also denounced Trump’s skepticism about US intelligence agencies and the accusations leveled against Russia and their hacking plot in the 2016 US presidential election.

"For a president not to have confidence in, not to be prepared to listen to, the myriad intelligence agencies, from defense intelligence to the CIA, is absolutely mindless,” Biden said.

"The idea that you may know more than the intelligence community knows - it's like saying I know more about physics than my professor. I didn't read the book, I just know I know more,” he continued.

Biden said it would be legitimate to question intelligence and ask for more detail or disagree but “dangerous” to publicly criticize the agencies and claim to know more than them.

Trump has already voiced his doubts regarding Russia’s alleged involvement in the November election, suggesting that the investigations by the FBI and CIA have been flawed.

US President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a thank you rally in Ladd-Peebles Stadium on December 17, 2016 in Mobile, Alabama. (Photo by AFP)

Washington first publicly accused Moscow of a campaign of cyber operations against American political organizations in October last year but did not attribute motives at the time.

In the run-up to the November 8 face-off between GOP nominee Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, Washington claimed that some Democratic organizations were hacked by Russians in favor of Trump.

According to a Washington Post report, US intelligence agencies had identified individuals with alleged connection to the Russian government that had acted as part of a wider Russian operation to boost Trump and reduce his rival’s chances of winning.

While many Republican and Democratic politicians have voiced serious concern about the allegations, calling for an in-depth investigation, others have downplayed such claims, including Trump himself, who has dismissed the accusations and questioned the US intelligence community’s judgment. He has described the CIA report as “ridiculous,” alleging that his opponents are coming up with “excuses” to delegitimize his Electoral College victory, which did come as a surprise to many political observers.

Clinton herself has signaled that her loss was in large part because of severe damage done to her campaign with allegations that the former US secretary of state’s use of a private email account for top-level communication may have breached the law.


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