Potential South Carolina Democratic primary voters were no doubt left confused Tuesday night after former Vice President Joe Biden asked them to support his Senate candidacy.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Biden, of course, hasn’t been a senator since he was inaugurated in 2009 as Barack Obama’s vice president.
Sure, he represented Delaware in the upper chamber of Congress for more than three decades prior to that. But 11 years is a long time, which makes his comments Tuesday all the more confusing.
According to the Washington Examiner, the head-scratching moment came as Biden spoke at the South Carolina Democratic Party’s First in the South Dinner.
WATCH: Hawley fumes after 4 GOP senators help sink Trump-backed voter ID law
WATCH: Maine voters divided on Platner as scandals shadow Democratic primary
OJ Simpson-era attorney sees familiar warning signs as Karmelo Anthony case fuels clash over race and justice
Graham Platner blasts new allegations as ‘false accusations’: ‘Maine, you have my back’
The Trump Effect: President’s Presence Turns NBA into NFL, At Least for a Night
Fox News Campus Radicals Newsletter: Pride flags removed, DEI back under fire, TV host’s Cali criticism
Platner shrugs off mounting controversies as ‘politically motivated’ and ‘false’ at rally
‘See you Monday’: Susie Wiles dismisses ‘Friday fiction’ she is eyeing White House exit
Trump expands TrumpRx prescription drug discount program to more than 800 medications
Sunny Hostin Admits She Hates America, Declares Country a ‘Failed Experiment’
Trump green lights new DNI Pulte to ‘start the process’ on mass intelligence firings
Forget Trump’s Bruised Hand – What Bobby Kennedy’s Hands Did in the ’68 Campaign Is 100x Worse – Yet the Media Adored Him
Virginia gun sales spike ahead of July 1 assault weapons ban signed by Gov. Spanberger
Platner’s Ex-Girlfriend Accuses NYT of Sanitizing Her Abuse Claims After Interview: ‘This Really Was a Set Up’
Former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra advances to California governor general election, AP projects
South Carolina has become something of a must-win state for Biden, who was long considered the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination before his weak showings in each of the first three states to cast their ballots.
“You’re the ones who sent Barack Obama the presidency. And I have a simple proposition here: I’m here to ask you for your help,” Biden said. “Where I come from, you don’t get far unless you ask.”
“My name’s Joe Biden. I’m a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate.”
Joe Biden: "My name is Joe Biden. I'm a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate…if you don't like me, you can vote for the other Biden."
Joe Biden is running for… Senate? pic.twitter.com/7EcO3ajAOu
— Jessica Fletcher (@heckyessica) February 25, 2020
It’s worth wondering what kind of message this sends to voters.
WATCH: Hawley fumes after 4 GOP senators help sink Trump-backed voter ID law
WATCH: Maine voters divided on Platner as scandals shadow Democratic primary
OJ Simpson-era attorney sees familiar warning signs as Karmelo Anthony case fuels clash over race and justice
Graham Platner blasts new allegations as ‘false accusations’: ‘Maine, you have my back’
The Trump Effect: President’s Presence Turns NBA into NFL, At Least for a Night
Fox News Campus Radicals Newsletter: Pride flags removed, DEI back under fire, TV host’s Cali criticism
Platner shrugs off mounting controversies as ‘politically motivated’ and ‘false’ at rally
‘See you Monday’: Susie Wiles dismisses ‘Friday fiction’ she is eyeing White House exit
Trump expands TrumpRx prescription drug discount program to more than 800 medications
Sunny Hostin Admits She Hates America, Declares Country a ‘Failed Experiment’
Trump green lights new DNI Pulte to ‘start the process’ on mass intelligence firings
Forget Trump’s Bruised Hand – What Bobby Kennedy’s Hands Did in the ’68 Campaign Is 100x Worse – Yet the Media Adored Him
Virginia gun sales spike ahead of July 1 assault weapons ban signed by Gov. Spanberger
Platner’s Ex-Girlfriend Accuses NYT of Sanitizing Her Abuse Claims After Interview: ‘This Really Was a Set Up’
Former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra advances to California governor general election, AP projects
Consider that Biden’s campaign is in serious trouble.
He’s 12 percentage points behind Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the RealClearPolitics national polling average.
Top Democratic donors are abandoning him.
While he was once expected to win South Carolina in a landslide, he’s now clinging to a thin 5-point lead over Sanders in the RealClearPolitics polling aggregate.
If he doesn’t start gaining momentum soon, Biden’s campaign is toast — yet the man can’t even seem to remember that he’s running for president, not Senate?
And that wasn’t the only gaffe Biden made Tuesday night.
Seconds after saying he was running for Senate, Biden sure made it sound like he was encouraging voters who don’t like him to “vote for the other Biden.”
“Look me over. If you like what you see, help out. If not, vote for the other Biden. Give me a look, though, OK?” Biden said.
Of course, there is no “other Biden” currently running for, well, anything.
If this was a one-time occurrence, then perhaps it would be a bit more understandable. But Biden says head-scratching things like these all the time.
Earlier this month, for instance, Biden claimed he was a victim of apartheid in South Africa.
“This day, 30 years ago, Nelson Mandela walked out of prison and entered into discussions about apartheid,” he told voters. “I had the great honor of meeting him. I had the great honor of being arrested with our U.N. ambassador on the streets of Soweto trying to get to see him on Robbens Island.”
WATCH: Hawley fumes after 4 GOP senators help sink Trump-backed voter ID law
WATCH: Maine voters divided on Platner as scandals shadow Democratic primary
OJ Simpson-era attorney sees familiar warning signs as Karmelo Anthony case fuels clash over race and justice
Graham Platner blasts new allegations as ‘false accusations’: ‘Maine, you have my back’
The Trump Effect: President’s Presence Turns NBA into NFL, At Least for a Night
Fox News Campus Radicals Newsletter: Pride flags removed, DEI back under fire, TV host’s Cali criticism
Platner shrugs off mounting controversies as ‘politically motivated’ and ‘false’ at rally
‘See you Monday’: Susie Wiles dismisses ‘Friday fiction’ she is eyeing White House exit
Trump expands TrumpRx prescription drug discount program to more than 800 medications
Sunny Hostin Admits She Hates America, Declares Country a ‘Failed Experiment’
Trump green lights new DNI Pulte to ‘start the process’ on mass intelligence firings
Forget Trump’s Bruised Hand – What Bobby Kennedy’s Hands Did in the ’68 Campaign Is 100x Worse – Yet the Media Adored Him
Virginia gun sales spike ahead of July 1 assault weapons ban signed by Gov. Spanberger
Platner’s Ex-Girlfriend Accuses NYT of Sanitizing Her Abuse Claims After Interview: ‘This Really Was a Set Up’
Former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra advances to California governor general election, AP projects
Even The New York Times called him out on that one.
“But if Mr. Biden, then a United States senator from Delaware, was in fact arrested while trying to visit Mr. Mandela, he did not mention it in his 2007 memoir when writing about a 1970s trip to South Africa, and he has not spoken of it prominently on the 2020 campaign trail,” The Times reported. “A check of available news accounts by The New York Times turned up no references to an arrest. South African arrest records are not readily available in the United States.”
And in calling for more gun control last week, Biden said he would “do everything in my power … to get those clips that have multiple bullets in them not for sale, not be able to sell silencers.”
That’s a nonsensical statement, of course, as all gun magazines, by their very definition, hold multiple bullets.
The point is, Biden doesn’t seem to be thinking about what he says anymore — he just says the first thing that comes into his head.
He appears to have very little desire to actually be elected president, and instead seems to be going through the motions with half-baked proposals and gaffes that he isn’t bothering to correct.
If I were a Democratic primary voter who was considering Biden for president, I’d be very concerned.
Story cited here.
