Biden Taking Flak Over New Gaffes

Joe Biden isn't exactly known as being gaffe-proof, and the 2020 frontrunner is now taking flak for a series of new flubs. The details:

• Minority kids: The one getting the most attention came in Iowa Thursday, when Biden was talking about education and seemed to inadvertently equate being poor with being non-white. "We should challenge students in these schools and have advanced placement programs in these schools," Biden said, per Bloomberg. "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." Biden quickly corrected himself, adding, "Wealthy kids. Black kids. Asian kids," but online critics pounced.

• Thatcher: Back in May, Biden spoke of the late Margaret Thatcher when he meant then-British leader Theresa May. On Thursday, he mistakenly invoked Thatcher again, notes Breitbart, which points out Thatcher ended her run as prime minister in 1990. He was referring to international reaction to the Charlottesville violence and said that "people like Margaret Tha—excuse me," before switching to Germany's Angela Merkel.
• Shootings: Earlier this week, Biden referred to the shootings in "Houston today and also in Michigan," when he meant El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, notes Fox News. In fairness, Fox points out that President Trump referred to Toledo instead of Dayton. Fox also notes that Biden said, "We choose truth over facts" during a Thursday speech.
• The history: Biden's harshest critics are equating the slip-ups to his age of 76, but much of the coverage notes that the candidate has been making such flubs for years. Perhaps the most notable one came in the 2008 election, when he praised Barack Obama as being the first black candidate who is "clean" and "articulate," per the Washington Post.

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