At Wednesday’s Democratic debate, Joe Biden was asked about the nation’s #MeToo movement, and what he could do, if elected, to help change the way society treats women. Biden, who has come under fire for both his treatment of women and his tendency to commit gaffes on the debate stage, combined those two into one controversial answer.
Biden first talked about how Congress needed to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, and how he worked to pass that the first time. Biden said that no man has a “right to raise a hand to a woman in anger, other than in self-defense,” and then said that to change the culture, we need to keep “punching at it,” which he then repeated.
Biden on domestic violence: We’ve got to keep punching at it and punching at it and punching at it. 🥊 🥊 🥊
— Ricardo Jr (@MonsieurRicardo) November 21, 2019
Yikes. #demdebate #DemocraticDebate #biden pic.twitter.com/ei8G6mLVTv
It was instantly derided on Twitter.
did joe biden just said we have to “punch away at” domestic violence
— . (@swordsjew) November 21, 2019
https://twitter.com/eveewing/status/1197357577731899392
https://twitter.com/MoiraDonegan/status/1197357762059161600
Biden talking about repeatedly punching at the issue of domestic violence is…. quite a take. #DemDebate
— April (@ReignOfApril) November 21, 2019
Surely, that didn’t just happen. Talking about domestic violence, Biden says “no man should ever hit a woman except in self-defense …” Then, he says to tackle the issue, we need to keep “punching at it, and punching at it, and punching at it.” 🤦🏾♂️ #DemocraticDebate
— T.J. Holmes (@tjholmes) November 21, 2019
“No, I really mean it,” he added.
This story has been updated.
READ MORE:
