Vice-President Joe Biden must have known he had it coming the second he likened the Tea Party’s debt-deal behavior to that of terrorists, language he now denies. Republicans seem delighted that the slip is affording them the opportunity to bash Biden — even Sarah Palin is getting a chance to milk the alleged comment, calling the White House “out of touch.”
Some choice quotes from key conservatives on the slip:
Jim DeMint: “It’s deeply disturbing to hear the vice president refer to tea parties as terrorists as did he today, holding a gun to the heads of Republicans and forcing us to make cuts.”
Rand Paul, via Twitter: “Laughable to be called ‘terrorist’ by those holding economy hostage. Prefer to be thought of as freedom fighter. #teaparty.”
Sarah Palin: “I suppose it’s a bit more appalling to have been called acting like terrorists by he who is second in command of the most powerful office in the world. It’s quite appalling. It proves how out of touch this White House is.”
Before trudging back to his time-out chair, Biden tried to backpedal, pretty unsuccessfully: “I did not use the terrorism word — What happened was there were some people who said they felt like they were being held hostage by terrorists.” [ABC News]
