It just wasn’t Joe Biden’s day. After declaring himself “Joe Biden” while being asked about Trump and white supremacy on Thursday, he went on to tackle the thorny issue of race, class, privilege, and education.
He seemed to struggle.
According to Bloomberg’s Emma Kinery, Biden told a group of Asian and Hispanic voters that “poor kids” were just as smart as “white kids.”
Joe Biden slip-up in Iowa tonight.
— Andrew Clark (@AndrewHClark) August 9, 2019
"Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids."
Yikes…have fun mitigating that one. pic.twitter.com/m2VxZbnFHF
“We have this notion that somehow if you’re poor, you cannot do it. Poor kids are just as bright, just as talented, as white kids,” Biden said, adding, perhaps to mitigate it, “Wealthy kids, Black kids, Asian kids, no I really mean it.”
What Biden probably meant was that what poor kids are just as smart as kids from wealthy families, who are given myriad more opportunities for success thanks to their status in life. What came out of his mouth though, was an accidental dig, essentially lumping in all families of color together as “poor.”
If that were just it, that might be alright. But Biden had two more doozies in him.
While assailing Trump’s science-denying administration, he said ‘We choose science over fiction.” But then he went on to say “We chose truth over facts.”
Joe Biden is a man in decline. pic.twitter.com/OM2OR73w04
— Walker Bragman moved to Threads and BlueSky (@WalkerBragman) August 9, 2019
He als0 called Theresa May “Margaret Thatcher.”
Here's the Biden quote from tonight. He was talking about international reaction to Trump's comments on the Charlottesville white supremacist rallies. He caught himself before fully saying "Thatcher," saying "excuse me," but didn't replace it with another name. pic.twitter.com/wqbFgITNiy
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 9, 2019
For the 76-year-old, the 2020 campaign is already littered with gaffes.
READ MORE:
- Joe Biden on if Trump is a white supremacist: ‘I’m Joe Biden’
- Joe Biden nails the difference between website, text message in closing statement
- Biden mistakenly endorses Cory Booker for president
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