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Joe Biden blasted for joking he'll run truck over reporter who asked about Israel: 'Trump would be impeached'

The President was test-driving Ford's F-150 Lightning truck when he sought to evade the reporter's question about Israel by telling her to 'get in front of the car as I step on it'

President Joe Biden has been slammed for avoiding a tough question about Israel from a reporter by joking about running over her. The 78-year-old was in Michigan on Tuesday, May 18, to visit Ford's electric vehicle plant, where he test drove the automaker company’s F-150 Lightning truck -- an electric vehicle. 

However, when he halted the truck alongside a group of reporters, one of them asked him, “Mr. President, can I ask you a quick question on Israel before you drive away since it's so important?” Biden replied: “No you can't. Not unless you get in front of the car as I step on it.”

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Since then, his answer has been condemned heavily by political observers. Former Nevada GOP Chairwoman Amy Tarkanian tweeted, “Joe Biden just threatened to run a reporter over with a car for wanting to ask a question about Israel. If President Trump had done this, he would have been impeached. Jokingly or not, this rhetoric is completely unbecoming of the President.”

“Biden joking about running down a reporter for asking about Israel in an F-150 truck is a pretty good tell about just how performative the "how dare he" fainting spells of the past 4 years actually were,” said conservative podcast host Stephen L Miller. National Republican Senatorial Committee campaign worker Jonathan Turcotte said: “While America's most important Middle East ally is under attack, Joe Biden threatened to run over a reporter for asking a question about it. And this is the takeaway from the totally unbiased media. What a joke.”

Besides public figures, others on social media have also blasted him for his joke. One user said, “It is not the comparisons with other Presidents, it is not unbecoming actions, but yes you are correct.  What I see is a man having happy fun time living out his dream probably being told he is wonderful while the world is literally on fire.” Another one added: “I think it’s fine to joke who cares but you’re right if this was Trump it would be the end of the world and news for two weeks, then brought up every few weeks to say remember when he said this.”

Meanwhile, during the tour, Biden -- a longtime auto connoisseur -- also got on the podium and introduced himself as, “My name is Joe Biden and I'm a car guy,” before saying, “The future of the auto industry is electric. There's no turning back. Right now, China is leading in this race, make no bones about it. They will not win this race. We can't let them.”

He also went on to lambast former President Donald Trump’s administration for not doing enough in the field of electric vehicles or fortifying the infrastructure of the country. Biden mentioned, “They announced infrastructure week! And they announced it, and announced it, and announced it, and announced it — every week for four years. Didn't do a damn thing. They didn't get the job done.”

The White House also issued a fact sheet that read that Biden’s American Jobs Plan would “accelerate our domestic EV industry by driving demand for advanced cars and trucks, reinvigorating our automotive sector and battery manufacturing, deploying a national network of chargers, and advancing our innovation capacity for the next generation of technology.”