Obama 2012: A look back

The last straw was Biden’s complaint, emphatically offered at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, that he would have more influence over foreign policy if he were black. His staff’s effort to dismiss the incident as a joke – at the normally comedic event – fell short largely because Biden shouted “I am not joking!” two dozens times in speech that lasted less than 10 minutes. The fact that Biden had not been invited to speak at the dinner in the first place only added to the controversy.