NEW HAMPTON, Iowa — Joe Biden lashed out at a voter during a town hall event on his “No Malarkey” bus tour in Iowa, marking one of the tensest moments the former vice president has faced on the campaign trail so far.
“I’ve got two problems with you,” an 83-year-old voter told Biden on Thursday afternoon. “You’re too old. I mean, truly. I know damn well I don’t have the mental faculties I did.”
He then brought up Biden’s role in the Burisma Holdings controversy. “We all know Trump’s been messing around with Ukraine over there, holding their foreign aide for them to come up saying they’re going to investigate you,” the voter said, referencing actions at the heart of impeachment proceedings against President Trump. “But you, on the other hand, let your son over there, get a job and work for a gas company. He had no experience.”
“You’re a damn liar, man. That’s not true. And no one has ever said that, and no one has heard that,” Biden said.
Biden’s response prompted the man to push back, saying he heard allegations of impropriety regarding Biden’s role in the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the board of a company that Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, was on.
“You see it on the TV? No, I know you do. And by the way, that’s why I’m not sedentary … The reason I’m running is because I’ve been around a long time, and I know more than most people know, and I can get things done. That’s why I’m running,” Biden said. “And if you wanna check out my shape on, let’s do push-ups together, man. Let’s run, let’s do whatever you want to do, let’s take an IQ test.”
After Biden earned applause from the audience, he denied allegations that he acted improperly during his time in the White House.
The voter then interjected again, saying he never accused the former vice president of doing anything wrong.
“You said I set up my son to work in an oil company, isn’t that what you said? Get your word straight, jack,” Biden said.
At one point, Biden appeared to call the man “fat,” but his campaign later said that Biden was saying “facts.”
The voter then said he was not going to vote for Biden.
“You’re too old to vote for me,” Biden said.
After the town hall event, the voter said that Biden is “senile anyhow.”
“It was all softball stuff, he don’t want to answer the hard stuff,” the voter said. “He’s been in the Congress all of his life and all of these problems like high drug prices and all of that — where in the hell has he been for the last 50 years?”
The voter refused to give his name but said he is a registered independent. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is his top candidate choice, he said, but he also likes Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. While the voter brought up Biden’s age, he said he was not concerned about Warren or Sanders being over the age of 70.
“I’m retired, and I watch this stuff on TV,” the voter said as to why he decided to come out to see Biden. “I’m interested.”
