Donald Trump and Joe Biden in ‘rhetorical septuagenarian smackdown’
Feuding pair trade barbs over who would go down first in a fight

President Donald Trump and former vice president Joe Biden are in the middle of what The Washington Post describes as a “rhetorical septuagenarian smackdown over who could clean the other’s clock in a brawl”.
Trump, reacting to comments Biden made about him earlier in the week at an anti-sexual assault rally in Florida, tweeted on Thursday: “Crazy Joe Biden is trying to act like a tough guy. Actually, he is weak, both mentally and physically, and yet he threatens me, for the second time, with physical assault. He doesn’t know me, but he would go down fast and hard, crying all the way. Don’t threaten people Joe!”
At the University of Miami, Biden cited lewd comments Trump had made in a 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape about grabbing women without their permission.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“If we were in high school, I’d take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him,” said Biden. He also said any man who disrespected women was “usually the fattest, ugliest S.O.B. in the room”.
The former vice president faces criticism for the aggressive nature of his comments. They “echo those he made at a Hillary Clinton rally during the 2016 presidential election”, says HuffPost.
“The press always ask me, ‘Don’t I wish I were debating him?’ No, I wish we were in high school – I could take him behind the gym. That’s what I wish,” Biden said at the time.
Though Trump’s “freewheeling Twitter insults have long broken presidential decorum”, says Yahoo News, the Thursday morning tweet about fighting Biden was “nonetheless striking”.
Trump has often railed against Democrats, including Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren, who, it’s speculated, are considering running against him in 2020.
Talk of a Biden run for the presidency has “persisted since the 2016 campaign, in which it has been claimed he was considered as a last-minute replacement for Hillary Clinton”, says The Guardian.
The former Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus said in a speech in Hong Kong this week that Biden could be “a pretty serious candidate”, but he added that he didn’t think a Democratic party moving left in opposition to Trump would embrace such a centralist figure.
At the annual Gridiron Dinner with Washington journalists earlier this month, the US President dismissed the prospect of a Biden run, calling his political opponent “Sleepy Joe” and saying he could “kick his ass”.
Trump also attacked Biden on Twitter in 2016, calling him “Our not very bright Vice President”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why does Elon Musk take his son everywhere?
Talking Point With his four-year-old 'emotional support human' by his side, what message is the world's richest man sending?
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why are sinkholes becoming more common?
Podcast Plus, will Saudi investment help create the "Netflix of sport"? And why has New Zealand's new tourism campaign met with a savage reception?
By The Week UK Published
-
How Poland became Europe's military power
The Explainer Warsaw has made its armed forces a priority as it looks to protect its borders and stay close to the US
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine's mineral riches and Trump's shakedown diplomacy
The Explainer President's demand for half of Kyiv's resources in return for past military aid amounts to 'mafia blackmail tactics' and 'colonialism'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Munich Security Conference: will spectre of appeasement haunt old world order?
Today's Big Question Trump's talks with Putin threaten the international rules-based order, say critics
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Russia frees US teacher Marc Fogel in murky 'exchange'
Speed Read He was detained in Moscow for carrying medically prescribed marijuana
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Hamas pauses Gaza hostage release, upending ceasefire
Speed Read Hamas postponed the next scheduled hostage release 'until further notice,' accusing Israel of breaking the terms of their ceasefire deal
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Why South Africa's land reform is so controversial
The Explainer Donald Trump has turned his ire on the South African government's land reform policies
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
'Riviera of the Middle East': what does Trump's Gaza plan mean for the region?
Today's Big Question Suggestion that the US take over and redevelop the war-torn region, and displace its Palestinian residents, has been condemned by Arab allies but welcomed by Israel
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Donald Trump's grab for the Panama Canal
The Explainer The US has a big interest in the canal through which 40% of its container traffic passes
By The Week UK Published
-
Who is the Hat Man? 'Shadow people' and sleep paralysis
In Depth 'Sleep demons' have plagued our dreams throughout the centuries, but the explanation could be medical
By The Week Staff Published