Joe Biden Calls Female Voter a 'Lying, Dog-Faced Pony Soldier' During Campaign Event
Former vice president's presidential campaign continues to struggle - WATCH
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Former Vice President Joe Biden called a female voter a "lying, dog-faced pony soldier" during a bizarre moment at his New Hampshire town hall event on Sunday.
The Democratic presidential candidate later claimed he was jokingly quoting John Wayne - without any context - when a young college student asked him a question at the Ashworth by the Sea hotel in the ocean-front town of Hampton.
21-year-old Mercer University economics student Madison Moore asked Biden why voters should believe he could win the Democrat nomination after his performance in Iowa, where he trailed in fourth place.
"So you're arguably the candidate with the greatest advantage in this race," Moore said, mentioning how Biden has name recognition as the former vice president and wasn't taken away from the campaign trail for impeachment hearings like the 2020 candidates who serve in the U.S. Senate.
"How do you explain the performance in Iowa and why should the voters believe that you can win the national election?" Moore asked.
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"It's a good question. Number One – Iowa is a Democratic caucus. You ever been to a caucus?" Biden asked the young voter.
She nodded in the affirmative.
"No, you haven't. You're a lying dog-faced pony soldier," Biden said, getting laughs.
"You said you were – but now you've got to be honest," he said.
"Now, I'm gonna be honest with you. It was a little bit confusing in Iowa."
After a New Hampshire voter asks @JoeBiden why they should trust he can turn his campaign around, he asks if she’s ever been to a caucus before; when she says yes, Biden snaps: "No you haven’t. You’re a lying dog-faced pony soldier." pic.twitter.com/3uxOAu0Ues
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 9, 2020
Biden’s spokespeople said the line was taken from a scene in a John Wayne movie, where a Native American chief refers to Wayne as a "lying, dog-faced pony soldier."
His campaign didn't explain why he would choose to quote the phrase in that scenario, nor what the context was.
It appears Biden may have misquoted John Wayne as it seems he may have been referring to the 1952 Tyrone Power film "Pony Soldier," which uses the phrase throughout.
Addressing Moore, Biden continued: "But let's assume everything was exactly right in Iowa, the idea that you come in with half the delegates that the leaders come in with in Iowa, does not necessarily say how you're going to win Pennsylvania, how you're going to win Michigan," he argued, suggesting he'd outperform Sen. Bernie Sanders and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg in the general election swing states.
"I congratulate Pete, I congratulate Bernie," Biden continued.
"They were really well organized, better organized than we were in Iowa."
Biden also argued that "you have to take the first four as one," Biden said of the first early voting and caucus states: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina.
"Not a single person has won without overwhelming support from the black community, overwhelming, overwhelming. OK?" Biden said.
"Right now I am far and ahead in the African-American community," he continued, adding that the final result "remains to be seen."
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Iowa has not yet officially declared the winner, but as the results stand Buttigieg came in No. 1 in the traditional metric - the percentage of delegates earned - while Sanders won the popular vote.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren fell in third place with 18 percent and Biden in fourth with 15.8 percent.
Other than Amy Klobuchar, who earned 12.3 percent in the caucus, no other candidate emerged with more than 1 percent.
New polling out over the weekend shows Biden in fourth place in New Hampshire, as well – with one particular poll showing him only one point ahead of Klobuchar.
He also downplayed expectations in New Hampshire, which holds the nation's first primary on Tuesday.
Biden said he can't be expected to top Sanders, who represents Vermont, or Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts since they're from neighboring states.
"Look, who has won a New Hampshire primary ... if you have somebody running in the two states next door to you?" he asked the crowd.
While in the room, Biden's odd comment was taken in stride.
Once it hit the internet, however, it was ripe for critics to rip.
Donald Trump Jr. saw the back-and-forth and suggested it showed that the 77-year-old Biden was deteriorating.
If he can’t handle a simple question from one of his own supporters, how can Joe Biden possibly take on Donald Trump one on one for six months?
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 9, 2020
🤔🤣🤡 #NewHampshirePrimary https://t.co/t0KVEc9uoZ
"Are we still pretending Joe Biden hasn't lost his marbles?" Trump Jr. tweeted Sunday afternoon.
The first son then suggested people "Google a video of him from 30 years ago and compare it to him now and tell me it's the same person!"
"Long gone," Trump Jr. said.
