President Trump’s former press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has been criticized for mocking Joe Biden's stutter.
The former Vice President was speaking at a Democratic debate on Thursday, in which he appeared to stammer. Biden spoke about children who suffer from speech impairments.
Towards the end of Biden's speech, Sanders took to Twitter to write: "“I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I hhhave absolutely no idea what Biden is talking about. [sic]" The tweet in question has since been deleted.
Sanders' comments provoked a storm of controversy on social media, and a number of other pundits condemned her for her statement, which many perceived as being ableist against those with speech impediments.
For example, Biden campaign staffer Andrew Yates retweeted the statement and added: "An insultingly stupid whopper from Sarah Huckabee Sanders - now I’ve seen everything."
Sanders appeared to defend her statements, writing in another (now deleted) tweet that she was not: "trying to make fun of anyone with a speech impediment ... Simply pointing out I can’t follow much of anything Biden is talking about."
Biden himself weighed in on the debate, tweeting: "I’ve worked my whole life to overcome a stutter. And it’s my great honor to mentor kids who have experienced the same. It’s called empathy. Look it up."
Watch Joe Biden deliver an impassioned speech about overcoming cancer:Sanders replied to this tweet by claiming that she had no idea that Biden had suffered from any speech impairments, writing: "I actually didn’t know that about you and that is commendable. I apologize and should have made my point respectfully."
The former Vice President has previously gone on record as claiming that he is the person "best qualified" to be President of the United States in 2020.
