Biden apologizes for 'Shylocks' gaffe, visits Iowa

[September 18, 2014]  By Kay Henderson
 
 DES MOINES (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden apologized on Wednesday for referring to people who squeeze U.S. military personnel serving overseas on loans and other financial issues as "Shylocks," a reference to a stereotypical Jewish character in Shakespeare.

Biden apologized for having used the term during a speech on Tuesday in Washington, calling it a "poor choice of words." His remark had drawn a rebuke from the Anti-Defamation League. The group thanked Biden for the apology on Wednesday.

Shylock is the Jewish moneylender in the William Shakespeare play 'The Merchant of Venice' who demands a pound of flesh from a merchant after he defaults on a debt.

"Clearly there was no ill-intent here, but Joe and I agreed that perhaps he needs to bone up on his Shakespeare," ADL National Director Abraham Foxman said after talking to Biden by telephone.

The controversy came as Biden made a trip to Iowa in what political analysts said showed his interest in a potential run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.

Biden raised more questions when he said Wednesday in his speech that he had stopped in Singapore to talk with former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, "who most foreign policy experts around the world say is the wisest man in the Orient."

The term Orient is considered antiquated and offensive to some people in reference to Asia.

Biden is at the top of a group of powerful politicians who could make a credible 2016 run if Hillary Clinton decides not to seek the presidency. That group also includes Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.

He spoke at a kickoff event in Des Moines for a tour by "Nuns on the Bus," a liberal organization that highlights what it calls the distorting impact of large, unlimited donations to political campaigns.

Biden emphasized populist economic themes in his remarks to the crowd of about 250 people, some of whom wore T-shirts that showed their support for Clinton.

"It's time for a fair tax structure, one that values paychecks as much as earned income and clipping dividends," Biden said, to applause. "One that values hard work as much as inherited wealth."

Biden's trip came days after Clinton made a splash at a Democratic fund-raising event sponsored by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin.

"She was sending a signal and I think Joe Biden is too," said David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University.

Biden ran for the Democratic nomination in 1988 and 2008 and his consideration of a 2016 run is well known. But it is not lost on anyone at the White House that his path to the Democratic nomination is decidedly uphill should Clinton run.

The polls bear this out. A Reuters-Ipsos poll from May found 52 percent of Americans would vote for Clinton in 2016, compared with 9 percent for Biden.

"Looking toward 2016, Biden's position is only tenable in Clinton's absence," said Ipsos pollster Julia Clark.

(Additional reporting by Steve Holland in Washington; Editing by Andre Grenon, Bernard Orr)

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