Jill Biden shuts down Jake Tapper’s question about husband’s ‘occasional gaffe’

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, shut down a question Sunday from CNN’s Jake Tapper about any “gaffe” her husband may make. 

“Oh, you can’t even go there,” Jill Biden told the “State of the Union” host when he led into a question by noting that the former vice president “has been known to make the occasional gaffe.”

“After Donald Trump, you cannot even say the word gaffe,” she said. 

“I can’t even say the word gaffe?” Tapper asked. 

“Nope. Done. It’s gone,” she responded. 

“Over, so over,” she added. 

Q: “Your husband has been known to make the occasional gaffe”

Jill Biden: “You can’t even go there. After Donald Trump, you cannot even say the word gaffe.”

Q: “I can’t even say the word gaffe?”

JB: “Nope. Done. It’s gone.”

Q: “The gaffe issue is over?”

JB: “Over. So over.” pic.twitter.com/NV8bAs7TP9

— The Hill (@thehill) September 27, 2020

President Trump has sought to make Joe Biden’s age and mental acuity an issue in the campaign, suggesting the Democrat has dementia and accusing him of having used drugs to improve his public performance. Trump renewed his call on Sunday for drug tests before Tuesday’s debate. 

Jill Biden told Tapper her husband is ready to face Trump on Tuesday in the first general election presidential debate.

“Oh, my gosh, yes, he’s ready,” she said on CNN. “You know, one of the things I am excited for is when the American people see Joe Biden up there on that stage, they’re going to see what a president looks like, someone who is, like I’m saying, calm, steady, strong, resilient. It’s like night and day between the two candidates. And so I can’t wait for the American people to see Joe, to see that statesman up there in front of the American public.” 

Jill Biden also commended the late Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) wife, Cindy McCain, for endorsing Joe Biden for president. 

“I think it took a lot of courage for her to come out and support Joe, being that she is a Republican,” she said, adding that it used to be more typical for lawmakers across the aisle to get along on a more personal level.  

“But that’s the way, Jake, things used to be. I mean, Joe and John would argue about issues, and they would see things totally differently. But, at the end of the day, there we would be together having dinner or going on a trip together or whatever it was,” Jill Biden said. “I mean, there was true civility in government. And that’s what I think we should return to.”  

Cindy McCain last week officially endorsed Joe Biden, saying he is the “one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation.”