Biden on wife blocking protester: ‘Whoa, you don’t screw around with a Philly girl’

Former Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday night joked that his presidential campaign may soon need Secret Service protection because people are worried his wife, Jill Biden, is going to “hurt someone” after an incident involving protesters at a victory speech on Super Tuesday.

“I’m probably the only candidate running for president whose wife is my Secret Service,” Biden joked while speaking at a fundraiser in California. “Whoa, you don’t screw around with a Philly girl, I’ll tell you what.”

Jill Biden quickly went viral for the role she played in blocking a pair of anti-dairy protesters from reaching the podium while her husband was speaking in Los Angeles on Tuesday night.

As one of the demonstrators stormed the stage, Jill stepped forward and shoved her before a group of Biden campaign staffers wrestled and carried the person away.

“We’re OK, we’re OK,” Jill Biden said after the episode.

The scene prompted calls from many for the Democratic presidential campaigns to begin receiving Secret Service protection. But they also led to a spree of admiring comments on social media about Jill Biden’s successful efforts to physically block a protester. Actor and comedian Amy Schumer was one of many people to call her a “warrior.”

Recalling the event just a night later, Joe Biden said of his wife: “I tell you what man, I married way above my station.”

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) on Wednesday sent a letter to the Trump administration asking that officials determine whether remaining Democratic presidential contenders warrant Secret Service protection. 

Thompson specifically named Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), saying that they appeared to meet the criteria to authorize protection for a major candidate. 

Fueled by a series of key victories on Super Tuesday in states such as Virginia and Texas, Biden cemented a two-candidate race between him and Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary. He currently holds a delegate lead over the progressive senator and appears to be in strong position to win future states.