i
Vice President Joe Biden talks with Stephanie Carter, wife of incoming Defense Secretary Ash Carter, during Carter’s swearing in ceremony on Tuesday.
Evan Vucci/AP
hide caption
itoggle caption
Evan Vucci/AP
Vice President Joe Biden talks with Stephanie Carter, wife of incoming Defense Secretary Ash Carter, during Carter’s swearing in ceremony on Tuesday.
Evan Vucci/AP
Vice President Joe Biden is making news for all the wrong reasons today. First, during a White House anti-extremism summit, Biden talked about the “very identifiable” Somali community that lives in his hometown of Wilmington, Del.
The AP reports:
” ‘I might add, if you ever come to the train station you may notice that I have great relations with them, because an awful lot of them are driving cabs, and are friends of mine,’ Biden said.
“His audience — a group of religious and community leaders, many of them Muslim or of African descent — responded with muted, uncomfortable chuckles as Biden continued without skipping a beat. ‘For real. I’m not being solicitous, I’m being serious,’ he said.
“To some, the observation smacked of a well-publicized gaffe that then-Sen. Biden made in 2006, when he told an Indian-American supporter that in Delaware, “you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.” Amid the resulting dust-up, Biden’s aides said he simply meant to highlight the vibrant Indian-American community in his home state.”
Then it was time for Biden to swear in Ash Carter, the country’s new defense secretary. That went well, until Carter started talking and Biden called Carter’s wife, Stephanie, over.
For a few seconds, Biden put both hands on Carter’s wife. It was reminiscent of what President George W. Bush did to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But Biden, then took it a step further, getting really close to whisper something in her ear.
The episode, of course, launched much commentary of on Twitter.
There were gifs:
And New York Magazine responded with a collection of pictures titled, “9 Times Joe Biden Creepily Whispered in Women’s Ears.”
Of course, Biden is known for things such as this. Remember, that’s why The Onion has parodied Biden as an administration screw-up and boozy womanizer.
We’ll leave you with another iconic Biden photograph from the 2012 campaign trail:
i
Vice President Joe Biden talks to customers during a stop at Cruisers Diner in Seaman, Ohio, in 2012.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
hide caption
itoggle caption
Carolyn Kaster/AP
Vice President Joe Biden talks to customers during a stop at Cruisers Diner in Seaman, Ohio, in 2012.
Carolyn Kaster/AP