Biden slips up with use of 'Orient' and 'Shylocks'
US Vice-President Joe Biden began the day with an acknowledgment that he had made a "poor choice of words". By day's end, he had put foot in his mouth again. Twice.
US Vice-President Joe Biden began the day with an acknowledgment that he had made a "poor choice of words". By day's end, he had put foot in his mouth again. Twice.
Biden opened the door on Wednesday to the possibility the US could commit ground troops to fight Islamic State in Iraq - a possibility the Obama administration has painstakingly avoided raising. That came shortly after he walked back his use of the word "Shylocks" and his use of the anachronistic term "Orient" to describe Asia.
Even for the gregarious and outspoken vice-president, whose candour has all too often landed him in hot water, the trio of eyebrow-raising remarks in about a 24-hour span was something to behold.
After leaving a rally in Des Moines, in the state of Iowa, Biden seemingly opened the door to committing ground troops to fight the Islamic State in Iraq.
During a stop at a local diner, a reporter asked Biden whether he agreed with the comments of army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, who on Tuesday left the door open to the possibility of boots on the ground. "He said that if in fact he concluded that was needed he would request it from the president. His conclusion is that it is not needed now," Biden responded.
But might it be needed? "We'll determine that based on how the effort goes," Biden said.
At the rally, Biden's speech was overshadowed by his story of a meeting he had with Lee Kuan Yew, the former prime minister of Singapore.
"On the way back from Mumbai to go meet with President Xi in China, I stopped in Singapore to meet with a guy named Lee Kuan Yew, who most foreign policy experts around the world say is the wisest man in the Orient."
Biden's use of the word "Orient" was widely mentioned on social media. Some quickly denounced it.
"Vice-President Joe Biden's insensitive remarks are offensive to both Asian Americans and our Asian allies abroad," Ninio Fetalvo, the Republican National Committee Asian American and Pacific Islander spokesman, said in a statement.
Hours earlier, Biden had taken back his use of the word "Shylocks" in a speech to describe lenders who foreclosed on members of the military, after the head of a Jewish organisation criticised him for it.
