What the hell happened here?
It starts off normally enough. They’re in Iowa, a guy stands up and mentions Trump and Ukraine, then makes the eminently fair point that Hunter Biden had no business serving on the board of a Ukrainian gas company. So far, so good. But then he accuses Joe Biden of working with Hunter to “sell access to the president.” That’s, uh, not fair. It’s what Trump suspects about the Bidens, it’s what he and Rudy obviously wanted Zelensky to imply by announcing the reopening of the Burisma investigation, but it’s not proved. And for reasons that remain unexplained the GOP took zero interest in proving it until right around the time Biden announced his presidential candidacy this year.
“I see it on the TV,” the guy says when asked where he got that information. I’ll bet he did. I can guess which channel he got it from, too.
Then things take another turn. Biden, obviously furious, starts rambling about … challenging the guy to push-ups or an IQ test. (Referencing his superior IQ is a very old habit of Joe’s on the presidential campaign trail.) A Twitter pal claims that the questioner had said something earlier about Biden’s age before the clip below picks up, which would explain Biden’s reply.
But I prefer to believe it’s totally out of the blue, just because it’s funnier. When Joe’s temper gets hot, he’ll just randomly start challenging you to trivia quizzes or competitive workout sessions. Doesn’t matter what the subject is. Ask him about Hunter and Burisma and you’re apt to find yourself called out for an impromptu dead-lift contest.
The really weird part, though, comes near the end where he appears to address the guy by saying, “Look, fat.”
What?
Does this dude lose his sh*t so completely when asked about Burisma that he can’t suppress the urge to denigrate the questioner personally? Can you imagine what he’s going to say to Lindsey Graham when he’s on the stand at Trump’s impeachment trial?
I don’t think he said “Look, fat,” or at least I don’t think he intended to say it. Maybe he meant/said, “Look, jack.” But when the legend becomes fact, print the legend. “Look, fat” would be one of the funnier lines ever uttered by an American politician. And, uh, also proof that Biden’s going to have about 50 meltdowns in front of the cameras between now and next November. You know how some oldies get with impulse control in their dotage.
No worries, though. He landed the coveted John Kerry endorsement today. He’s totally worth the risk, Democrats.
Update: Hoo boy.
"Stick it up your ass, fella."
Voter that challenged @JoeBiden gets into confrontation with another voter that told him to "get out of here."
📹: @EmilyELarsen pic.twitter.com/VSz8u2yWC0
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) December 5, 2019
Update: C’mon, he totally said, “Look, fat.”
To be clear: Any assertion VP Biden said a word about the gentleman's appearance is making this something it is not. In the latter part of the exchange, the VP began to say "Look, facts" then said "here's the deal." If you've been to a Biden event, you've heard this before.
— Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) December 5, 2019
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