President Joe Biden called U.S. Coast Guard cadets “dull” on Wednesday when they didn’t applaud a joke he made while delivering their graduation speech.
The moment: Biden stumbled through the the joke, which was at the expense of the U.S. Navy, and then went off-script.
- “You are a really dull class,” Biden told the Coast Guard Academy graduates in New London, Connecticut. “Come on, man, is the sun getting to you? I would think you would have an opportunity when I say that about the Navy to clap.”
The reaction: Biden’s comments reminded many Twitter commentators of Jeb Bush’s infamous plea for supporters to “Please clap,” which all but ended his 2016 Republican presidential campaign.
The problem: As both a candidate and as president, Biden has sometimes belied his avuncular public persona by lashing out at voters and journalists.
- The New York Times reported last week that Biden has a “short fuse” with aides and “often snaps” at them during long and meandering meetings.
