Julian Castro isn’t apologizing for taking a shot at former Vice President Joe Biden’s memory during the Democratic debate Thursday night.
When pressed on the highly discussed moment that occurred as the candidates debated health care policy proposals, Castro said he wouldn’t have done it differently.
“That was not a personal attack,” Castro said. “This was about a disagreement over what the vice president said regarding health care policy.”
Castro added that he was “glad” that “a lot of journalists overnight did the work of actually looking at the transcript,” when referring to how Biden failed to say the words “buy in” when discussing his health care plan.
“He had, in fact, said those words, but then he denied saying them,” Castro said. “And I pointed out that he had just said that. And now he was denying it. This is important, because it’s not about personalities, it’s about the fact that his plan would require you to buy in at certain times.”
Castro then doubled down on why he specifically asked Biden, “Are you forgetting what you said two minutes ago?” three times during the debate.
Biden has faced scrutiny throughout the campaign so far for his advanced age and penchant for verbal gaffes.
“Number one, he couldn’t hear me in the auditorium. If you look at what happened, the video,” Castro said. “Secondly, look, that’s a question that I would ask any opponent on stage, if I’m asking them in a debate, because he had just denied what he said two minutes before.”
Watch Castro’s response below:
Castro on questioning Biden's memory during the Democratic debate: "I wouldn't do it differently. That was not a personal attack." pic.twitter.com/FQnCPDEubC
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) September 13, 2019
Mr. Castro should understand that what’s far worse than electing a senile, delusional, forgetful president is pointing out the fact that he’s senile, delusional and forgetful.
The real time reaction from the audience was not good for Mr. Castro.
Trump called his VP “Pounce” yesterday.
Not going to get a job in the upcoming Biden administration
Yes it was personal Julian…and you KNOW it. In the DEBATE you said it was just ‘Democratic politics!’ You KNEW what you did…then you pretended it wasn’t an ‘ageism’ shot and now you don’t ‘regret’ it? Oh OK. You look like a putz. Debate the POLICIES and leave the personal alone…oh, and when you TAKE a shot try and get it ‘right’…it appears YOU are the one with the memory problem.
Well, it’s a delicate thing. I am very much against the wide-spread ageism that’s rearing its ugly head in this election. But Biden does seem to have some memory issues, and you know that’s going to be hammered away at by the repubs.
Of course, their candidate often sounds like he’s in the middle of having a stroke, but that’s different.