Joe Biden has a way of saying the right things while appearing clueless. That was evident during his "Happy Hour" livestream on Wednesday night when he described same-sex parents as "mommy and dad."
Wearing a gingham shirt with an American flag badge on his lapel, Biden addressed a question from the Alabama Young Democrats Josh Coleman, the LGBTQ liaison in Birmingham, reports
Coleman asked the former vice president why it was important for him on May 5, 2012 to publicly endorse LGBTQ marriage on "Meet the Press", a move that proved critical in pushing then-President Barack Obama's support, which came days later.
Biden answered by telling an anecdote about when he saw two men having a PDA on a street in Wilmington, Del. when he was a teenager. He said his father told him: "Joey, It's simple. They love each other. It's simple, Joey they love each other."
Joe Biden on "Meet the Press," May, 2012
He went on to describe the event that precipitated his public endorsement of marriage equality a week later.
"What happened was I showed up at an event, during an event when I was the Vice President and it was in a home of a gay couple. I walked in the kitchen and met them first and they had two beautiful children – a little boy and a little girl – the way they loved their mommy and dad – two men who were, in fact, really strong men and strong people, it just impressed me so much," Biden said.
He went on to explain how President Obama embraced him when he went into the White House the next morning.
"Everyone said, 'Biden was in going to be in real trouble getting ahead of everybody on this...'When I walked in the Oval Office as I did every morning and he got up from behind the desk and gave me a big hug and said, 'Well, you said you weren't going to quiet and you were right.'"
But Jo Becker's book about the evolution of LGBTQ marriage, "Forcing the Spring" painted a different picture,
"Speculation that Biden" s="" comments="" on="" 'Meet="" the="" Press'="" in="" May="" 2012="" were="" meant="" as="" a="" trial="" balloon,="" Becker="" writes,="" came="" from="" people="" 'not="" privy="" to="" the="" chaos="" that="" erupted="" inside="" the="" West="" Wing="" after="" an="" emailed="" transcript="" of="" the="" interview="" landed="" in="" the="" inbox="" of="" the="" White="" House="" press="" team.'="" A="" furious="" Valerie="" Jarrett,="" Becker="" adds,="" accused="" Biden="" of="" 'downright="" disloyalty,"="" Politico="" reported. On the Thursday following Biden's "Meet the Press" appearance, CNN reported in 2012 Biden apologized to Obama for the controversy.
"Two senior administration officials said Biden and Obama met Wednesday morning, and Biden apologized for putting Obama in a tough spot. Obama responded by saying that he knew Biden was speaking from the heart, said the officials, who didn't want to be named discussing private conversations between the president and vice president," CNN writes.
Joe Biden (left) and Josh Coleman on "young folk" livestream
But what jumped out to many in the LGBTQ community was his description of these male gay parents as "mommy and dad."
"Former Vice President Joe Biden held a livestream on Twitter last night where he took questions from young voters. During the online event, he flubbed a question on LGBTQ rights," writes
