Most politicians, upon making a highly publicized gaffe, would spend the next few hours — or days — with their mouths firmly shut. Joe Biden is not most politicians. ADVERTISING Most politicians, upon making a highly publicized gaffe, would spend
Most politicians, upon making a highly publicized gaffe, would spend the next few hours — or days — with their mouths firmly shut. Joe Biden is not most politicians.
During a speech to the Legal Services Corporation on Tuesday, Biden referred to lenders preying on members of the military as “shylocks.” By Wednesday, he was apologizing for a “poor choice of words” after the Anti-Defamation League criticized him for using a term that is a derogatory slur toward Jews.
Biden’s Wednesday was just starting to get bad, though. At a rally in Des Moines, Iowa — in case you forgot, Biden might like to run for president in 2016 — the vice president recounted meeting a man named Lee Kuan Yew, whom he called “the wisest man in the Orient.” As the immortal Walter Sobchak might say: Dude, that is not the preferred nomenclature.
But wait, there’s more! After the rally in Des Moines, Biden stopped by a local diner. He was asked by a reporter whether he agreed with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey’s refusal to rule out American ground troops in Iraq. Biden said ground troops aren’t necessary now, but he didn’t close the door on the possibility — a position counter to President Barack Obama’s insistence that troops won’t be put on the ground.
Then came the week-capper. At a women’s conference on Friday, Biden reminisced about good ol’ days when Republicans like Sen. Bob Packwood (Oregon) served. Packwood, you may remember, resigned in 1995 after 10 women accused him of sexual harassment.
Joe Biden, for kicking your gaffe machine into a gear we didn’t know it had, you had the worst week in Washington. Congrats, or something.
Cillizza covers the White House for The Washington Post and writes The Fix, its politics blog.
