President Trump on Tuesday taunted Joe Biden after two women came forward in recent days to detail interactions with the former vice president they said involved inappropriate or unwanted touching.
Trump, speaking at a National Republican Congressional Committee dinner, sought advice from the crowd of GOP lawmakers and conservatives about his 2020 campaign slogan as he prepared to face a Democratic challenge.
“We’re going into the war with some socialists,” Trump said of the field of prospective Democratic candidates. “And it looks like the only non sort of heavy socialist, he’s being taken care of pretty well by the socialists.
{mosads}”They got to him,” he added with a chuckle, referencing Biden.
“I was going to call him,” he continued. “I don’t know him well. I was going to say, ‘Welcome to the world, Joe. You having a good time, Joe? Are you having a good time?'”
Biden, who is widely expected to announce a 2020 presidential bid, has been at the center of controversy in recent days after two women accused the former vice president of touching them inappropriately.
Neither woman has said there was anything sexual about the contact.
Biden has said he did not intend to make the women feel uncomfortable, and multiple women have defended the former vice president.
As Trump spoke, The New York Times published accounts from two more women who said the former vice president behaved in a way that made them uncomfortable.
Trump, who has been accused by several women of sexual misconduct, had not addressed the allegations against Biden prior to Tuesday night.
Later in his speech, Trump again took a shot at Biden as he recalled hearing good news from a general about efforts to eliminate the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
“I said, ‘General, come here. Give me a kiss.’ I felt like Joe Biden,” Trump said, prompting laughter and applause from attendees. “But I meant it.”
The president transitioned from his barbs against Biden and other potential Democratic challengers into polling the audience about whether to keep the mantra “Make America Great Again” or swap it out in 2020 for “Keep America Great.”
At one point, he went on a tangent about “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, who claimed he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago and that his assailants shouted “This is MAGA Country.”
“How about the guy from Chicago? The actor that nobody ever heard of,” Trump said. “He said he got taken out by ‘MAGA country.’ I said, ‘What the Hell was that?’ I guess that’s a hate crime, right?”
Smollett was indicted after police alleged he filed a false police report over the incident, but prosecutors have since dropped the charges.
Trump went on to poll the audience on which was the better campaign slogan via applause but did not appear to settle on a final decision.
“I have a feeling maybe we’ll try and use both,” he said.
Updated at 8:56 p.m.