Joe Biden Calls Satchel Paige a ‘Great Negro’

During a speech at Arlington National Cemetery to celebrate Veteran’s Day, Joe Biden appeared to fumble his words when he referred to baseball star Satchel Paige as a “great negro.”

While wishing Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s dad and veteran Donald Blinken a happy birthday, Biden began fumbling his words while telling a story about age, the Daily Caller reports.

“I know you’re a little younger than I am,” Biden said to Donald Blinken. “I’ve adopted the attitude of the great negro at the time, pitcher in the Negro Leagues who went on to become a great pitcher in the pro’s, in Major League Baseball after Jackie Robinson. His name was Satchel Paige.”

“And Satchel Paige, on his 47th birthday, pitched to win against Chicago, and all the press went in and said ‘Satch, it’s amazing, 47 years old. No one’s ever, ever pitched a win at age 47. How do you feel about being 47?’” he continued.

“He said, ‘boys, that’s not how I look at it.’ They said, ‘how do you look at it, Satch?’ [and he said] ‘I look at it this way, how old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?’ I’m 50 years old and the ambassador is 47. But all kidding aside Mr. Ambassador, thank you for your service during World War Two as well as your service as an ambassador.”