Biden’s ‘no malarkey’ leaves voters baffled
JOE BIDEN was mocked this weekend after launching a campaign slogan – “no malarkey” – that did little to dispel fears the front-runner in the race for the Democrat presidential nomination is behind the times.
The phrase, emblazoned on the bus he is using to travel around the key state of Iowa, dates back to the 1920s.
Mr Biden who, at 78, would be the oldest first-term president to be sworn in, said the term was intended to highlight his truthfulness when compared to Donald Trump.
“What we’re referring here [is] my Irish ancestry, when my grandfather would really think something is full of you-know-what, he’d say, ‘that’s a lot of malarkey’,” he explained to supporters on yesterday.
“So we’re on a No Malarkey tour, meaning we’re telling the truth.”
Mr Biden often harks back to his role as vice-president to Barack Obama and he notably used the phrase to dismiss Paul Ryan in a 2012 vice-presidential debate, emphasising his reputation as straight-talking ‘Uncle Joe’.
However, the campaign slogan has left some people baffled while others suggested it showed that Mr Biden was out of touch with younger voters.
One Twitter user wrote: “I’m voting for Biden so he can finally fix the four big problems facing society: jibber-jabber, hogwash, tommyrot, and flapdoodle.”
A second suggested on the social network that the arcane language showed Mr Biden was “tired and old”.
However, Nate Silver, a political analyst, suggested that the slogan was Mr Biden being self-deprecating – which would appeal to his loyal supporters.
“It’s sort of poking fun at himself,” he said.
Mr Biden’s age has emerged as an issue on the campaign trail especially after some faltering performances in a series of televised debates.
He has also had to fend off questions about his son, Hunter, who took a seat on the board of the Ukrainian oil company Burisma Holdings Ltd, despite having no experience in the energy sector.
Despite leading in the national polls for the Democrat nomination, Mr Biden has fallen behind in the first two states to vote, Iowa and New Hampshire.
Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has built up a seven-point lead in Iowa, where Mr Biden now languishes in fourth place. In New Hampshire, Mr Biden is also in fourth place where the race is being led by Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator, who is four points ahead of Mr Buttigieg.
Although Mr Biden’s strong support in the African-american community has helped him build a dominant lead in the fourth-voting state, South Carolina, a poor performance in both Iowa and New Hampshire could derail his path to the nomination.
Mr Biden enlarged on his “no malarkey” theme when asked to explain how his experience made him more qualified for the Oval Office than younger rivals such as Mr Buttigieg and New Jersey senator, Cory Booker, a former mayor of Newark, New Jersey.
“I’ve dealt with every one of the major world leaders that are out there right now and they know me, I know them. And as time goes a pun here, no malarkey, I know them and they know I know them.”
Mr Biden gave a further demonstration of his occasionally eccentric campaigning style when he playfully bit his wife Jill’s finger as she waved her arm in front of him during her introductory remarks.