Social media is bubbling over with speculation following former President Barack Obama's comments about "Uncle Joe."
Did Obama unintentionally mean "Uncle" President Joe Biden? Or, was it intentional? Or, was the former president really referring to some fictional "Uncle Joe?"
These are the sorts of questions that many are entertaining. But before we get to the speculation, let's take a look at what Obama actually said and put it into context.
Take a look and listen:
OBAMA: "We all know some folks in our lives who — we don’t wish them ill will. They say crazy stuff & we’re all like, ‘Well, you know, Uncle Joe, you know what happened to him.’ They're part of the family but you don't give them serious responsibilities."pic.twitter.com/4cl6Ibmuro
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 2, 2022
This clip comes from a speech that Obama gave on Thursday evening in Atlanta, Georgia. Obama was there in order to rally for Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA).
Warnock is facing off against Republican Herschel Walker for one of Georgia's U.S. Senate seats. A runoff election will be held on Tuesday after neither candidate managed to obtain 50% of the vote in the original election, in which the two candidates finished within one percentage point of each other.
There is no obvious favorite in the race, but polls seem to be giving Warnock a slight advantage. This is where Obama comes in: the former president is trying to get Warnock over the line.
At this point in Obama's speech, he went on the attack against Walker. Obama, ostensibly, was trying to make an analogy: just as one wouldn't give "serious responsibilities" to "crazy . . . Uncle Joe," one ought not give a U.S. Senate seat to Herschel Walker.
But, as the National Review's Dan McLaughlin, and others, put it, "[Obama] coulda said Uncle Frank, but tellingly, Uncle Joe."
Accordingly, with the president's name being "Joe" and with the president often saying "crazy stuff," many started asking whether Obama was actually referring to Biden and whether it was intentional or unintentional. If one listens closely to the above clip, the crowd doesn't seem sure of what to do.
Many, such as TV News Now, suggested that Obama made a "Freudian slip." Others, such as thebradfordfile, implied that Obama really was talking about Biden, writing, "It's the most honest thing [Obama has] ever said."
That being said, many others highlighted the fact that there is a key difference between Obama's "Uncle Joe" and Biden, namely, that Biden has been given "serious responsibilities" as the U.S. president. That is unless Biden is just a figurehead . . .
Obama has not clarified his remarks.