(FeaturedNews.com) – President Joe Biden called an aging senator who showed signs of Parkinson’s a “poor son of a b***h.”
Biden made the disparaging comments about Senator Claiborne Pell (D-Rhode Island) in 1994 when Pell was in his late 70s, younger than Biden is currently.
Former White House Reporter Tom Galvin disclosed Biden’s remarks about Pell in his op-ed for Politico.
Galvin recalled asking Biden if “Pell’s diminished capacity” meant Biden would “make a move to replace him,” because, at the time, Biden had ambitions of ousting Pell from the position he held as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
In response, Biden, then a Senator for Delaware, referred to Pell as a “poor son of a b***h” and suggested the Rhode Island Senator “was no longer up for the job” but wouldn’t leave because “like many of [Biden’s] elderly colleagues,” Pell couldn’t envision a “life outside Congress.
Galvin, who now works as a communications strategist, recalled being “stunned,” by Biden’s response in 1994 but stated that he didn’t go to print with it because he didn’t have any “intention about writing about Pell,” who confirmed in 1995 that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
Later in 1994, Pell lost his role as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee when Republicans gained control of the Senate. Three years later, his illness forced him to retire early after six terms in the Senate.
Biden’s lack of empathy for Pell’s health and callous response has emerged as the President faces calls to withdraw from the 2024 race because of what many believe is his cognitive decline.
Pel sponsored the federal education program called the Basic Educational Opportunity Grants from 1973 until they were renamed Pell Grants in 1980 in honor of the Senator.
Pell died on January 1, 2009, weeks after turning 90.
Copyright 2024, FeaturedNews.com
