Lara Trump mocks Joe Biden's stutter at Women for Trump event: 'Let's get the words out, Joe'
Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law of President Donald J. Trump, attacked former vice president Joe Biden as she appeared to mock his stutter during a Women for Trump event. "Let's get the words out, Joe," she quipped, The Hill reports. Lara, who is the wife of Eric Trump and senior advisor to the president's re-election campaign, made the comments on stage at the event held in Iowa on Thursday, January 16.
The 37-year-old television producer tore into the Democratic presidential line-up while ripping Biden's debate performance. "I feel kind of sad for Joe Biden," she said. "And you know that's when it's not going well for him, right? Because I'm supposed to want him to fail at every turn, but every time he comes on stage or they turn to him, I'm like, 'Joe, can you get it out?'" she continued. "Let's get the words out, Joe."
"You Kind of feel bad for him. The problem is that's their front-runner, guys, Okay?" she added, drawing laughs from the audience. Lara then predicted the Democratic field has "zero chance" of beating her father-in-law with its current line-up.
Following a considerable backlash, Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh clarified on Twitter he was not referring to Biden's stuttering.
"Biden was a terrible candidate the first 2 times he ran for president & he’s no better this time. He doesn’t know what state he’s in half the time & thinks Thatcher is still British PM," he wrote. "Nothing to do w/speech impediment. Just bad candidate."
Biden stammered through some of his answers on the Democratic debate stage on January 14, night. This is not the first time he has stuttered at a public event, and he has openly spoken about the problem previously, recalling his efforts as a teen to overcome the impediment.
Lara's comments came just weeks after former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders mocked Biden's stutter in a tweet. "I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I hhhave absolutely no idea what Biden is talking about #DemDebate," she said following a presidential debate in December.
However, she apologized for her words after drawing condemnation online.
"To be clear was not trying to make fun of anyone with a speech impediment," she tweeted. "Simply pointing out I can't follow much of anything Biden is talking about."
While Sanders took down her original tweet, Biden shot back from his Twitter account. "I've worked my whole life to overcome a stutter," he wrote. "And it's my great honor to mentor kids who have experienced the same. It's called empathy. Look it up."