Former Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday responded on Twitter to a column by Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger in which the retired pilot condemned mockery of Biden’s stutter.
“Thank you @Captsully for sharing your story. There’s a lot of kids who I bet needed to hear it. Being different isn’t a barrier to success,” Biden tweeted Sunday. “It can give you the strength to save lives in a crash landing — or even run for President.”
“Stop. Grow up. Show some decency. People who can’t have no place in public life,” Sullenberger, most famous for successfully landing US Airways Flight 1549 in 2009, wrote in the New York Times, shortly after President Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump seemingly mocked the former vice president’s speech impediment.
Sullenberger concluded the op-ed on a similar note to Biden’s, addressing children with such impediments. “You are fine, just as you are. You can do any job you dream of when you grow up,” he wrote. “You can be a pilot who lands your plane on a river and helps save lives, or a president who treats people with respect, rather than making fun of them.”