that's our joe!

Fresh Off of Saying ‘Shylock,’ Joe Biden Calls Asia the ‘Orient’ and Throws in Stereotype for Good Measure

US Vice President Joe Biden attends the National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC, February 2, 2012.
Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Proving again that, yes, he is your accidentally racist grandma, Vice President Joe Biden continues to offend minority groups without malice. Biden already offended Jews this week — it’s only Wednesday — when he referred to shady lenders as “Shylocks,” but today’s gaffe was truly prodigious, as he managed to combine an antiquated, other-izing term with a cultural stereotype.

Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, Biden told a group in Iowa, “is the wisest man in the Orient.” (At least it was a vaguely positive stereotype?)

Biden, meanwhile, remains the wackiest old coot in the west. At this point, he’s basically Selina Meyer, but with less of a chance to become president.

After ‘Shylock,’ Biden Calls Asia the ‘Orient’