President Joe Biden fumbled LL Cool J’s name before calling the rapper “boy” at a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation event on Saturday.
“LL J Cool J, uhh, by the way, that boy’s got — that man’s got biceps bigger than my thighs,” Biden said during the 2023 Phoenix Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C.
Biden made the comment as he described LL Cool J, who was born with the name James Todd Smith, and MC Lyte as “two of the great artists of our time” who represent the “groundbreaking legacy” of hip hop in the United States.
BIDEN: "LL J Cool J, uhh, by the way, that boy's got— that man's got biceps bigger than my thighs" pic.twitter.com/ulCQRkEp0l
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 24, 2023
Biden has employed the word “boy” in the past, which has gotten him into trouble with the black community in particular.
In 2019, during the last presidential cycle, Biden was criticized for what he said about working with well-known segregationists in the Senate and finding room for civility. In talking about Sen. James O. Eastland (D-MS), who was often referred to as the “Voice of the White South,” Biden said, “He never called me ‘boy,’ he always called me ‘son.’”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), a black man campaigning for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination at the time, was among those who rebuked Biden, saying, “You don’t joke about calling black men ‘boys.'”
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Biden defended himself, saying, “There’s not a racist bone in my body,” and even called on Booker to apologize. Biden later conceded that he understood the “consequence” of the word but denied that he said it “in any of that context.”
Earlier this year, Biden referred to Maryland Democratic Governor Wes Moore, also a black man, as “boy” while commenting on his physical appearance as a former college football player.
“You got a hell of a new governor in Wes Moore, I tell you,” Biden said during a speech in Maryland. “He’s the real deal. And the boy looks like he can still play. He got some guns on him.”
Biden is well known for making gaffes over the years, but those concerns have risen of late as he seeks a second term in the White House, fueled by the president’s age (80), his tendency to lose his train of thought while speaking, and moments caught on camera where he has tripped or fallen over.