Joe Biden under fire for using anti-Jewish slur
Vice President Joe Biden drew rebuke this week from the Anti-Defamation League for using an anti-Jewish slur, "Shylocks," while speaking at a conference for the Legal Services Corporation. Biden used the word while telling a story about his son's efforts to help military families avoid foreclosure after they returned from serving abroad:
People would come to him and talk about what was happening to them at home in terms of foreclosures, in terms of bad loans that were being — I mean, these Shylocks who took advantage of these women and men while overseas. [The Hill]
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Biden, for his part, has reportedly apologized, calling his comment a "poor choice of words."
Biden has come under fire in the past for a number of racist comments. For example, he joked in 2006 that "You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent," and said in 2007 that Barack Obama was "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."
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