Donald Trump and Joe Biden in ‘rhetorical septuagenarian smackdown’
Feuding pair trade barbs over who would go down first in a fight
President Donald Trump and former vice president Joe Biden are in the middle of what The Washington Post describes as a “rhetorical septuagenarian smackdown over who could clean the other’s clock in a brawl”.
Trump, reacting to comments Biden made about him earlier in the week at an anti-sexual assault rally in Florida, tweeted on Thursday: “Crazy Joe Biden is trying to act like a tough guy. Actually, he is weak, both mentally and physically, and yet he threatens me, for the second time, with physical assault. He doesn’t know me, but he would go down fast and hard, crying all the way. Don’t threaten people Joe!”
At the University of Miami, Biden cited lewd comments Trump had made in a 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape about grabbing women without their permission.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“If we were in high school, I’d take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him,” said Biden. He also said any man who disrespected women was “usually the fattest, ugliest S.O.B. in the room”.
The former vice president faces criticism for the aggressive nature of his comments. They “echo those he made at a Hillary Clinton rally during the 2016 presidential election”, says HuffPost.
“The press always ask me, ‘Don’t I wish I were debating him?’ No, I wish we were in high school – I could take him behind the gym. That’s what I wish,” Biden said at the time.
Though Trump’s “freewheeling Twitter insults have long broken presidential decorum”, says Yahoo News, the Thursday morning tweet about fighting Biden was “nonetheless striking”.
Trump has often railed against Democrats, including Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren, who, it’s speculated, are considering running against him in 2020.
Talk of a Biden run for the presidency has “persisted since the 2016 campaign, in which it has been claimed he was considered as a last-minute replacement for Hillary Clinton”, says The Guardian.
The former Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus said in a speech in Hong Kong this week that Biden could be “a pretty serious candidate”, but he added that he didn’t think a Democratic party moving left in opposition to Trump would embrace such a centralist figure.
At the annual Gridiron Dinner with Washington journalists earlier this month, the US President dismissed the prospect of a Biden run, calling his political opponent “Sleepy Joe” and saying he could “kick his ass”.
Trump also attacked Biden on Twitter in 2016, calling him “Our not very bright Vice President”.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Republicans want to silence Israel's opponents'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Poland, Germany nab alleged anti-Ukraine spies
Speed Read A man was arrested over a supposed Russian plot to kill Ukrainian President Zelenskyy
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - April 19, 2024
Cartoons Friday's cartoons - priority delivery, USPS on fire, and more
By The Week US Published
-
'Republicans want to silence Israel's opponents'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Israel hits Iran with retaliatory airstrike
Speed Read The attack comes after Iran's drone and missile barrage last weekend
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Is there a peaceful way forward for Israel and Iran?
Today's Big Question Tehran has initially sought to downplay the latest Israeli missile strike on its territory
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
How could the Supreme Court's Fischer v. US case impact the other Jan 6. trials including Trump's?
Today's Big Question A former Pennsylvania cop might hold the key to a major upheaval in how the courts treat the Capitol riot — and its alleged instigator
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'A direct, protracted war with Israel is not something Iran is equipped to fight'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
'Good riddance to the televised presidential debate'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Sudan on brink of collapse after a year of war
Speed Read 18 million people face famine as the country continues its bloody downward spiral
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How powerful is Iran?
Today's big question Islamic republic is facing domestic dissent and 'economic peril' but has a vast military, dangerous allies and a nuclear threat
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published