A viral video is comparing footage of Presidents Joe Biden and Ronald Reagan telling the same joke about the Coast Guard.
The men were one year apart in age at the time they told the same joke, and the video doesn’t make Biden look very good as he stumbles slightly over his delivery of the quip and gets no laughter as a result, whereas Reagan’s delivery is smooth, his timing dead-on, and the audience reaction immediate.
Biden told the Coast Guard cadets they were a “dull class” when no one clapped at first.
You can watch the video below and decide for yourself.
Here’s what you need to know:
Biden Was Speaking to the 2021 Graduating Class of the U.S. Coast Guard
Biden made the comment 30 years after Reagan to the Coast Guard’s 2021 graduating class.
“I can only assume that you’ll enjoy educating your family about how the Coast Guard is quote ‘The hard nucleus around the Navy forms in times of war,’” Biden said in the video. He added, “You’re a really dull class. Come on, man. Is the sun getting to you?”
Reagan was 77 years old when he told the joke. Joe Biden is 78. Twitter users were pretty harsh on Biden. “Joe Biden flubbed the joke taken from Ronald Reagan,” wrote one.
Others were upset that he criticized the audience for not laughing. “Biden mispronounced all this Coast Guard terminology and said total non-sense words. He reads that Ronald Reagan quote and the crowd doesn’t clap so he calls them dull. Biden’s handlers hate it when he goes off script.. To me he seems to really be struggling,” wrote another.
“Biden plagiarized (not the first time) a joke Reagan told the coast guard. Reagan got laughs Biden got silence then calls the grads dull,” wrote another.
Reagan Was Speaking to Coast Guard Cadets in 1988
Watch Reagan speech to the Coast Guard’s graduating class and compare with Biden’s.
Biden can’t even plagiarize right:
How did Reagan handle the same joke? He told it way back in 1988 to a group of Coast Guard cadets, according to Fox News.
“My Coast Guard aides have been excellent. One of them taught me that, and I quote, ‘The Coast Guard is that hard nucleus about which the Navy forms in time of war,” Reagan says in the video, receiving applause.
On Twitter, some people tried to accuse Biden of plagiarizing the joke since Reagan said it first.
Becket Adams of the Washington Examiner, who shared the video comparison on Twitter, wrote, “fyi, Reagan delivered this joke in 1988, at the end of his presidency and when dementia rumors were rampant.” He added, “Also, guys, i wouldn’t say the joke is plagiarized. Reagan said he heard it from a Coastie. Dick Cheney also told the joke in 2008. It’s an old bit.”
Another person added, “President @POTUS stole President Reagan’s speech from years ago when talking about the nucleus of the Navy being protected by the Coast Guard. Biden should be ashamed of himself and I’m happy nobody clapped which President Biden was expecting. Biden can be a jerk.” Sean Hannity also skewered Biden over the video on Fox News.
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