Bad Taste: Video Shows Biden Jokingly Calling Soldiers 'Stupid Bastards'
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
Just when you think Joe Biden could not embarrass himself anymore, he can’t help but prove you wrong.
A resurfaced video now making the rounds showed the then-Democratic presidential nominee calling a crowd of U.S. service members “stupid bastards.”
The uncovered gaffe (it’s actually from a video from 2016, when he was still serving as vice president) is not a new one, but it is certainly just as cringe-worthy as the rest of Biden’s biggest hits.
“I have incredibly good judgment,” Biden said in the video. “One, I married Jill, and two, I appointed Johnson to the academy. I just want you to know that.”
There was then a short pause as Biden awkwardly waits for applause that isn’t going to come.
“Clap for that, you stupid bastards,” he said.
His following comments made it pretty clear that Biden was trying to be humorous, but his humor was arguably in bad taste (though, admittedly, several of the service members behind him appeared to appreciate the joke.)
“Man, you’re a dull bunch,” he said next. “Must be slow here, man.”
The description of the video, which was posted on YouTube in 2017, read “Vice President Joe Biden, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom calls A room full of servicemen and servicewomen at an undisclosed location in southwest Asia stupid bastards in March 2016.”
Given that description, it appeared that the video is from a speech Biden gave to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia on March 7, 2016.
The timing of this video’s resurfacing was troubling for Democrats as anonymous sources in a controversial Atlantic article alleged that President Donald Trump once called soldiers who were killed in action “losers” and “suckers.”
The truth of that article’s claims has since been disputed by former National Security Advisor John Bolton, a man who has absolutely no reason to protect Trump given their falling out.
All in all, 21 on-the-record sources denied Trump made the comments, according to the Washington Examiner.
Nonetheless, Biden used the story as an opportunity to attack Trump, apparently forgetting about his own comments from 2016.
Mr. President, if you don’t respect our troops, you can’t lead them. pic.twitter.com/hcX9hGgdm5
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 4, 2020
“Mr. President, if you don’t respect our troops, you can’t lead them,” the former vice president tweeted.
Unlike the anonymously sourced Atlantic article, however, it is undeniable that Biden used these words during his remarks in 2016, even if only jokingly.
That’s the problem with Biden nowadays: The former vice president (now president) has become so nonsensical with his statements that many have cause to wonder whether his mental state is beginning to decline in his old age.
And Biden appears to be far worse now than he ever was in 2016.
A series of verbal blunders and gaffes have defined the candidate’s less-than-stellar campaign so far.
Perhaps the most famous example came during the presidential nominee’s interview on the popular radio program “The Breakfast Club,” hosted by a man going by the name Charlemagne Tha God.
Toward the end of their interview, Charlemagne suggested that Biden has quite a lot of work left to do to win over black supporters.
Biden’s response has since been criticized as borderline racist at best.
“If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black,” Biden replied.
Although he later apologized, the gaffe haunts the Biden campaign to this day.
Now, these comments about military service members may as well.
It’s hard even to guess which class of people this bumbling candidate will insult next. We’ll likely find out soon enough.
CORRECTION, Oct. 7, 2020: The Western Journal has added “Jokingly” to the headline and added language to the body of this commentary to emphasize that Biden appeared to have been joking when he made these comments. In addition, two sentences appearing in the video but not transcribed in the story have been added for context. Finally, the video itself was moved to appear lower in the story so that readers would have the full context of the video prior to viewing it.
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