Top 10 Biden Gaffes
10. “If we do everything right, if we do it with absolute certainty, there’s still a 30 percent chance we’ll get it wrong …”
Feb. 6, 2009, to lawmakers at a policy retreat in Williamsburg, VA.
9. “… a very good political speech from ,uh, the Lieutenant Governor of Alaska who I think is going to be very formidable …”
Sept. 4, 2008, in Manassas, VA, speaking about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin
8. “A man I’m proud to call my friend. A man who will be the next President of the United States, Barack America!”
Aug. 23 2008, in Springfield, IL at the first campaign rally with Obama.
7. “John’s last minute economic plan does nothing to tackle the number one job facing the middle class, and it happens to be, as Barack says, a three letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S, jobs!”
Oct. 15, 2008, speaking to a group near Ohio University.
Biden was widely ridiculed for this one and conservative pundits wondered how Palin would have been treated for making this gaffe.
6. “Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be Vice President of the United States of America … Quite frankly, [she] might have been a better pick than me.”
Sept 9, 2008 at a town hall meeting in Nashua, NH. This was a gaffe widely noted by female bloggers.
5. “When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on television and didn’t just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened.”
September 22, 2008, in an interview with CBS News anchor Katie Couric.
FDR, famous for his “fireside chats,” was a radio man, since televisions were still being developed in the lab during his time in office, and national television networks did not gain broadcasting momentum until after World War II. Also, Hoover was President in 1929 when the stock market crashed.
4. “I didn’t know we did it and if I had anything to do with it, we would have never done it.”
Sept. 22, 2008, in an interview with CBS’ Katie Couric.
The Obama campaign mocked McCain for not using e-mail in a TV ad that debuted September 12, 2008. Subsequently, it came out that McCain was tortured by his communist captors in Vietnam to the point he can’t type. Biden indicated the ad was “terrible” in the interview referenced above, and made this statement when asked by Couric why the ad was aired. His remarks embarrassed the Obama campaign, which withdrew the ad, then had Biden retract his statement by indicating he had indeed been informed of the ad, just not seen it.
3. “Stand up, Chuck, let ’em see ya.”
Sept. 12, 2008, at a rally in Columbia, MO.
Missouri State Senator Chuck Graham uses a wheelchair.
2. Early in the campaign called Obama, “Articulate, bright, and clean.”
In an interview with Jason Horowitz, reporting for the New York Observer, published Feb. 4, 2007.
It was an odd thing to say about a presidential candidate.
1. “In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking.”
In perhaps his most famous pre-election gaffe, Biden insulted Indian American immigrants everywhere on a taped clip shown on the C-SPAN show, Road to the White House, which first aired in July, 2006. Newsmax had perhaps the best write-up about the incident.
