Biden said we need to 'keep punching at' domestic violence and the internet was not amused

Michelle MarkNov 21, 2019, 09:36 IST

Democratic presidential hopeful Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the fifth Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season co-hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia on November 20, 2019.Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Former Vice President Joe Biden was derided online after using an unfortunate choice of words to condemn domestic violence.
In response to a question about addressing sexual violence, Biden said people need to "keep punching at it and punching at it and punching at it."
Biden also noted in his answer that he has written legislation addressing violence against women.
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Former Vice President Joe Biden made a clumsy attempt at condemning domestic violence on Wednesday by vowing to "keep punching at it and punching at it and punching at it," as the audience stifled laughter.

Biden was asked during Wednesday's Democratic Debate about how to address sexual violence, and he immediately mentioned that he created legislation addressing violence against women, known as the Violence Against Women Act.

But then he quickly veered into an unrelated tangent about combatting domestic violence.

"No man has a right to raise a hand to a woman in anger, other than in self-defense and that's rarely ever occurred. And so we have to just change the culture. Period. And keep punching at it and punching at it and punching at it," Biden said. "It's a gigantic issue."

The audience could be heard laughing during his remarks.

The gaffe quickly sparked mockery and derision online, with Twitter users criticizing Biden's unfortunate choice of words.

Wednesday marked the fifth Democratic presidential debate, which was hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post.

Joe Biden just said in response to what we need to do about violence against women "...we have to keep punching at it and punching at it and punching at it." oh no, Joe. ��‍♀️ #DemocraticDebate
- Free Dominguez (@freedominguez) November 21, 2019

It says so much when Biden is asked about the #Metoo movement, his only frame of reference is domestic violence. So he changes the subject to it.

And he says "We're gonna keep, PUNCHING AT IT, PUNCHING AT IT, PUNCHING AT IT."

He has no idea what women face in 2019. #DemDebate
- Brianna Wu (@BriannaWu) November 21, 2019

Lol did Biden just say men can hit women in self-defense and violence against women is a problem we need to keep "punching at"?! #DemDebate
- Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) November 21, 2019

Surely, that didn't just happen. Talking about domestic violence, Biden says "no man should ever hit a woman except in self-defense ..." Then, he says to tackle the issue, we need to keep "punching at it, and punching at it, and punching at it." ��‍♂️ #DemocraticDebate
- T.J. Holmes (@tjholmes) November 21, 2019

In response to a question about male violence against women, Biden replies, in a really staggeringly tone deaf comment, "We have to keep punching at it, and punching at it, and punching at it."
- Moira Donegan (@MoiraDonegan) November 21, 2019