Lis Smith, a senior adviser for South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s (D) presidential campaign, came out in defense of former Vice President Joe Biden amid outcry over a viral photo of Biden biting his wife’s finger at a recent campaign stop.
Smith said the photo showed affection between the former vice president and his wife, and she criticized those picking it apart.
“Moments of humanity and affection are allowed in politics. And they are rare,” Smith wrote in a tweet. “To the folks tweeting this out like it was ‘weird’ or ‘bad’- I truly hope your next holiday weekend was better than this one.”
The viral photo Smith is referring to was captured during a brief moment at an event Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, held in Council Bluffs over the weekend as part of his “No Malarkey!” campaign tour in Iowa.
In a full clip of the moment, Jill Biden can be seen waving her hands in front of her husband’s face for several seconds as the former vice president jokingly dodges them before playfully taking a bite. His wife takes her hand away shortly after while joining Biden and some of his supporters in laughter.
The moment quickly spread throughout online circles on the right, with allies of President Trump in particular ripping Biden.
The moment also became a meme on social media and was made into a chopped video that was played to the popular children’s song “Baby Shark.”