There are numerous awkward moments involving Joe Biden. Biden has been caught engaging in some head-scratching antics, from hair sniffing to creepily touching children. It was written off in the media as actions akin to that of a friendly grandpa. We know that’s not the case. Joe has been inappropriately handsy at public events, and he’s not nice—he’s a cantankerous senior citizen who rips into staff daily.
There have been reports that White House staffers have a buddy system in which someone who is to be excoriated by the increasingly senile president always has someone present serving as emotional support.
The Delaware liberal has had a reputation for being unable to shut his mouth. Call it diarrhea of the mouth, once describing then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) was an articulate, bright, and clean black man ahead of the 2008 election. There’s the 7-Eleven comment regarding the ethnicity of those who work at these establishments. But one of the more awkward Biden moments occurred 15 years ago when he wanted a man who uses a wheelchair to stand up (via Politico):
Biden had an awkward moment during a rally in Columbia, Mo., … At the start of his remarks, he pointed out several state lawmakers in the audience for praise. When he got to Chuck Graham, a state senator from Green Meadows, Biden urged the lawmaker to "stand up Chuck, let 'em see ya."
But Graham, who is in a wheelchair, can't stand up - a fact Biden quickly picked up on.
"God love ya, what am I talking about," Biden said. "You can tell I'm new," he quipped, asking the audience to stand up for Graham instead.
Biden later apologized, and the now-late former state senator said the incident didn’t bother him. But it will forever be etched in stone in the annals of Biden sticking his foot in his mouth, which he doesn't do anymore because now no one can understand him.