On PBS, Liberal Columnists Slam Biden for 'Chains' Gaffe

August 18th, 2012 12:13 AM

On Friday's Inside Washington on PBS, regular panel member and liberal Washington Post columnist Colby King admitted that it "bothers" him that Vice President Joe Biden felt the need to "resort to colloquialisms to talk to African-Americans," referring to the Vice President's "chains" gaffe in Danville, Virginia.

After host Gordon Peterson asked, "How did the White House handle this one?" King responded:

(Video can be found here.)

Not well. By ignoring it, they didn't do well by it. ... The thing about what Biden did that bothers some people, myself included, you don't have to resort to colloquialisms to talk to  African-Americans. Y'all? Why does it have to be "y'all" when you want to talk to me?

A bit later, after conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer argued that Biden is not fit for office because of all the "crazy things" the Vice President says, Mark Shields asserted that, "Colby is absolutely right. I mean, this was, not only was it offensive, but it was patronizing," even as the liberal columnist otherwise tried to defend Biden generally.