Vice President Joe Biden told an audience on Tuesday that he has great relationships with Somalis living in America since many of them have driven him around in taxi cabs.
The latest “Bidenism” — the name given to the Democrat’s many gaffes and candid remarks — came during the opening day of a three-day White House summit on extremism and terrorism.
Biden, discussing Somali community in Delaware: “There’s an awful lot of them driving cabs”
— Josh Lederman (@joshledermanAP) February 17, 2015
VP at extremism summit on Somalis: “I have great relationships with them because there’s an awful lot driving cabs and are friends of mine.”
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) February 17, 2015
According to an AP report from the summit, Biden was discussing how integrating outside communities is necessary to help fight extremism and terrorism in the U.S.
“National security flows from a sense of community,” Biden said, according to the AP. The main message is, “inclusion counts,” he added.
The Department of Justice and others have developed outreach programs geared toward foreign groups, including Somalis, because of their differences in language, customs and religion. Somalia is a majority Muslim country.
Last year, it was reported that as many as 15 Somali Muslims from Minnesota had traveled to the Middle East to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
And last month, Liban Haji Mohamed, a former Washington, D.C.-area cab driver of Somali descent, was placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists List after he allegedly provided material support to Al Shabaab, a Somali-based terrorist group with links to al-Qaeda.
Biden speaks about threat of violent extremism and recruitment pic.twitter.com/ik7UakWMok
— Josh Lederman (@joshledermanAP) February 17, 2015
The 72-year-old Biden, who is believed to be mulling a 2016 presidential bid, has a history of speaking frankly about minority groups.
In 2006, a comment he made about his support among Indian-Americans raised eyebrows.
“I’ve had a great relationship. In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking,” Biden said.
Perhaps Biden’s most famous gaffe came in 2007 when he was talking about his future boss, then-Sen. Barack Obama.
“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” Biden said.
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