Some people might argue that Vice President Joe Biden is the king of the idiom: "Putting one's foot in one's mouth." This week, however, he placed a baby's pacifier in his mouth, literally.
While attending an event at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Biden reportedly snatched a pacifier from a 15-month-old child — and put the baby's item in his own mouth. The boy, Jasper, is the grandson of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The event was closed to the press, but Jasper's mother, Georgina Bloomberg, posted an image to Facebook of Biden holding the child.
"What's a boy to do when the vice president steals your pacifier?" Bloomberg asked about her son.
Biden was attending an investiture ceremony at the British Embassy, where he formally was made an Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
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He isn't a stranger to viral-ready gimmicks and off-the-cuff remarks, though. Biden has called his job a 'bitch,' taken a selfie with President Barack Obama, and shared an image of his famous Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses for his first post to Instagram. Last fall, he made headlines for his hat trick of gaffes. The verbal blunders started with an apology to Jewish groups for using the term “Shylock,” then continued with another faux pas about “the Orient,” before ending with a comment to a group of women that he missed a senator who was almost expelled from his role after allegations of assault.
Biden has also been criticized for being overly friendly with women in public. While swearing in new Defense Secretary Ash Carter in February, Biden got up close and personal with the military leader's wife. He put both hands on Stephanie Carter's shoulder, leaned in, and whispered into her ear. A month earlier, Biden spoke to an unhappy-looking Maggie Coons. Her father, Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, was being sworn into office. And in 2012, an image went viral of a woman biker apparently sitting on Biden's lap during one of his campaign stops in Ohio. The story later was clarified to explain that the woman had pulled a chair to sit down in front of the vice president.
Biden visited Iowa — the first-in-the-country caucus state — in September amid speculation of a 2016 presidential bid. He is a former Delaware senator who sought the Democratic nomination in 2008, but dropped out after receiving less than 1% of the vote in Iowa.