Gaffe-prone Joe Biden says ‘poor kids just as bright as white kids’ as he speaks to Asian and Hispanic voters
- Remarks prompt social media furore, with many focusing on equivalence he drew, intentionally or not, between poor children and minority children
- Donald Trump’s campaign highlights clip on Twitter and says ‘have fun mitigating that one’
Former US vice-president Joe Biden, who has a history of gaffes, told a group of mostly Asian and Hispanic voters in Iowa on Thursday night that “poor kids” are just as bright as “white kids”.
Biden, who has been leading in national and early state polling for the Democratic presidential nomination, was speaking on the subject of education at a town hall in Des Moines hosted by the Asian and Latino Coalition.
“We should challenge students in these schools that have advanced placement programmes in these schools,” Biden said. “We have this notion that somehow if you’re poor, you cannot do it. Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.”
After a brief pause, he added: “Wealthy kids, black kids, Asian kids, no I really mean it, but think how we think about it.”
His remarks prompted a stir on social media on Thursday night, with many focusing on the equivalence he drew, intentionally or not, between poor children and minority children.
US President Donald Trump’s campaign highlighted a video clip from the event on its “War Room” account on Twitter. In a separate tweet, the campaign’s rapid response director, Andrew Clark, wrote: “Yikes … have fun mitigating that one.”
