Former Vice President Joe Biden's public speaking skills were questioned yet again this past weekend after a 2017 clip resurfaced of the 2020 presidential candidate telling the story of the time he took on "Corn Pop," a notorious "bad dude" who threatened him with straight razors after Biden made fun of his hairdo while working as a lifeguard at Wilmington, Delaware city pool comprised of mostly black people. The video had some questioning the veracity of his story, and others pointing out that while it may be true, the way he delivered the tale should cause concern for everybody.
"This was the diving board area, and I was one of the guards, and they weren't allowed to -- it was a 3-meter board. And if you fell off sideways, you landed on the damn, er, darn cement over there," Biden told a crowd at the 2017 ceremony "in which the Brown-Burton-Winchester Park was renamed the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Aquatic Center," according to Fox News.
This is BIZARRE!
— Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) September 15, 2019
Here's Joe Biden telling the story of his face-off with a gang of razor-wielding ne'er-do-wells led by a guy named 'Corn Pop.' pic.twitter.com/DddRtWgdza
"And Corn Pop was a bad dude," Biden said seemingly switching points. "And he ran a bunch of bad boys. And back in those days -- to show how things have changed -- one of the things you had to use, if you used Pomade in your hair, you had to wear a baby cap. And so he was up on the board and wouldn't listen to me. I said, 'Hey, Esther, you! Off the board, or I'll come up and drag you off.' Well, he came off, and he said, 'I'll meet you outside.'"
"My car was mostly, these were all public housing behind us," the former Delaware senator continued. "My car - there was a gate on here. I parked my car outside the gate. And he said, 'I'll be waiting for you. He was waiting for me with three guys with straight razors. Not a joke. There was a guy named Bill Wright the only white guy and he did all the pools. He was a mechanic. And I said, 'What am I gonna do?' And he said. 'Come down here in the basement, where all the mechanics- - where all the pool builder is.' You know the chain, there used to be a chain that went across the deep end. And he cut off a six-foot length of chain, and folded it up and he said, 'You walk out with that chain, and you walk to the car and say, 'you may cut me man, but I'm gonna wrap this chain around your head.'"
"I said, 'You're kidding me.'" He said, 'No if you don't, don't come back.' And he was right," Biden blurted. "So I walked out with the chain. And I walked up to my car. And in those days, you remember the straight razors, you had to bang 'em on the curb, gettin' em rusty, puttin' em in the rain barrel, gettin' em rusty? And I looked at him, but I was smart, then. I said, 'First of all,' I said, 'when I tell you to get off the board, you get off the board, and I'll kick you out again, but I shouldn't have called you Esther Williams, and I apologize for that. I apologize.' But I didn't know that apology was gonna work."
"He said, 'you apologize to me?'" he added. "I said, 'I apologize but not for throwing you out, but I apologize for what I said.' He said, 'OK,' closed that straight razor, and my heart began to beat again."
Biden has told this story numerous times, including in his memoir. On Twitter, more people were concerned yet again with is cognitive ability.
One Bernie supporter said, "Who the hell tells a story in front of a bunch of kids about rusty straight razors and almost fighting 'Corn Pop' with a chain? Pull the damned plug. Joe Biden's fantasy of being President is over."
Who the hell tells a story in front of a bunch of kids about rusty straight razors and almost fighting "Corn Pop" with a chain?
— Pat the Berner?? (@PatTheBerner) September 15, 2019
Pull the damned plug.
Joe Biden's fantasy of being President is over. https://t.co/cYHy7N4dq7
Yashar Ali said, "For some reason many people are assuming that Corn Pop isn't real etc. I am certainly not saying that. It's more about the VP's delivery."
2. For some reason many people are assuming that Corn Pop isn't real etc. I am certainly not saying that. It's more about the VP's delivery. https://t.co/v55RlWdoxR
— Yashar Ali ?? (@yashar) September 15, 2019
"The most bizarre part of this story isn’t even that he tussled with a guy named Corn Pop, but that every part of this story makes Joe Biden sound like he’s 215 years old," Jules Suzdaltsev added.
The most bizarre part of this story isn’t even that he tussled with a guy named Corn Pop, but that every part of this story makes Joe Biden sound like he’s 215 years old. pic.twitter.com/uj3fd1PYVb
— Jules Suzdaltsev (@jules_su) September 15, 2019
Townhall has covered Biden's mental ability or lack thereof in recent weeks. It is pretty difficult to deny that the 76-year-old has made numerous errors on the campaign trail. There were hundreds of tweets from both the left and the right wondering if Biden was fit for the presidency. But perhaps The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh summed it up best.
"This is actually a great grandpa story and I always wished I had a grandpa (both mine died when my parents were kids) to tell stories like this. Biden should go home and just be a grandpa. He's way too old for politics and it's sad to watch."
This is actually a great grandpa story and I always wished I had a grandpa (both mine died when my parents were kids) to tell stories like this. Biden should go home and just be a grandpa. He's way too old for politics and it's sad to watch. https://t.co/X3oItNyZn6
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 16, 2019
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