Joe Biden sparks controversy again with awkward ‘gay waiter’ remark at LGBT event as 2020 rivals say his gaffes are ‘causing pain’
GAFFE-PRONE Joe Biden has sparked controversy again with an awkward remark about "gay waiters" at an LGBT event at the weekend.
The 2020 White House contender, 76, was heckled by audience members at the fundraiser in Seattle, US.
Mr Biden went on to say that if a speaker made the same homophobic comments today, "that person would not be invited back".
He also boasted of supporting same sex marriage before Barack Obama, and hit out at the lack of legal protections for gay people who face discrimination at work.
It came as millions marched at Pride parades in the US and across the world to mark 50 years since the Stonewall Riots that were a turning point in the struggle for civil rights.
'DIVISIVE FIGURE'
Mr Biden said he had recently visited the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan, the site of a police raid in 1969, and told the audience in Seattle: "Think of the incredible, physical, moral courage it took to stand up and fight back."
He was trying to boost his liberal credentials after a rocky week for his campaign as rivals attacked his past position on racial segregation.
Black senator Kamala Harris took Mr Biden to task in a fiery exchange during last week's Democrat TV debate.
She attacked him for opposing the practice of "busing" kids to different areas to integrate schools in the 1970s.
He insisted he "never ever opposed voluntary busing" and was only against it when it was imposed by the federal government.
But in which he said he did oppose busing, which he called "the least effective remedy" for racial segregation.
Mr Biden has also come under fire for heaping praise on two racist former senators and boasting how he worked with them in Congress despite their views that black people were inferior.
Cory Booker, another Democrat presidential hopeful, said Mr Biden is becoming a divisive figure with his unapologetic defence of his civil rights record.
Mr Booker said in a TV interview: “We have one destiny in this nation and right now the vice president to me is not doing a good job of bringing folks together.
“In fact, and I’ve heard this from people across the country, he’s causing a lot of frustration and even pain with his words.”
In April, Mr Biden stunned an audience with a bizarre joke about touching a child on stage following allegations by seven women of touchy-feely behaviour and sexual harassment.
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