Former Vice President Joe Biden is facing criticism for pointing the finger at conservative radio host “Rush Limbaugh and the conservative blonde woman” for the partial government shutdown.
Biden was presumably talking about Ann Coulter, who had before the shutdown called President Trump “gutless” and said that if Trump caves on the wall then the next president would be a Democrat.
“Republicans overwhelmingly voted to keep the government open,” Biden said. “Then Rush Limbaugh and the conservative blonde woman says he’s losing his base, and so he’s changed his mind.”
Joe Biden: “Republicans overwhelmingly voted to keep the government open. Then Rush Limbaugh and the conservative blonde woman says he’s losing his base, and so he’s changed his mind.” https://t.co/3MurfQeQII pic.twitter.com/2p6OWjDnKn
— The Hill (@thehill) January 5, 2019
Limbaugh, a conservative radio host, had urged Trump to stand a firm ground on the shutdown in order to deliver on his campaign promise about building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Congress had planned to send Trump a bill that would have extended government funding through February, but Trump told them he wouldn’t sign it and demanded more than $5 billion to pay for the wall. Trump has maintained since he will not sign a spending bill that doesn’t include money for a border wall.
Biden’s comments drew criticism on Twitter for his use of “conservative blonde woman” rather than the woman’s name. Coulter is a well-known, if controversial, conservative columnist and talk show host who has published a dozen books.
The comment is the latest from the gaffe-prone former senator — who once described then-candidate Sen. Barack Obama as “articulate and bright and clean” — to earn criticism for being sexist, dating back decades. Criticism of his handling of the 1991 Senate confirmation hearings for Justice Clarence Thomas in which Anita Hill testified about the sexual harassment she faced re-emerged in the wake of the hearings for Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexual misconduct by California professor Christine Blasey Ford.
Hill said in an Elle interview last year that while Biden, who chaired those hearings, has since said he owes her an apology, he had not apologized.
Biden, widely regarded as a top contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, has also drawn scrutiny for his habit of touching women while he speaks to them, a practice repeatedly captured in photos of public events.
