JOE Biden has revealed his lifelong struggle with a speech problem after Donald Trump's former press secretary appeared to mock him for stuttering.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders faced backlash after posting about the former US Vice President's delivery during Thursday's Democratic debate.
Sanders wrote in a since-deleted tweet “I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I hhhave absolutely no idea what Biden is talking about,” as the debate was wrapping up.
Biden, a 2020 frontrunner, had been discussing children who suffer from speech impediments when he made the stumble.
Within moments, critics slammed Sanders for her comment.
Sabrina Singh, a National Press Secretary for Cory Booker tweeted: "This is the most disgusting tweet of the night."
While Biden staff campaigner Andrew Yates wrote: "An insultingly stupid whopper from Sarah Huckabee Sanders — now I’ve seen everything."
Toward the end of the debate, Biden spoke about the people he meets while campaigning, who ask him for help.
He said:“My wife and I have a call list of somewhere between 20 and 100 people.
"I give them my personal phone number.”
Biden then spoke of a “little kid” who approached him and said: “I can’t talk, what do I do?”
He then appeared to impersonate the child’s stutter.
I’ve worked my whole life to overcome a stutter
Later, Sanders took yet another jab at Biden, tweeting: “Simply pointing out I can’t follow much of anything Biden is talking about.”
Biden then pointed out his battle with the speech disorder, tweeting: "I’ve worked my whole life to overcome a stutter. And it’s my great honour to mentor kids who have experienced the same. It’s called empathy. Look it up."
Sanders then apologised, claiming she was unaware of Biden's condition.
What is stuttering?
Stuttering and stammering are actually just the same thing, they refer to a relatively common speech problem in childhood which can persist into adulthood.
A stammer can present itself in a few ways; it can cause the person to repeat syllables, make words sound much longer or sometimes words can get stuck and not come out at all.
It can vary in its severity in different people, some who are barely affected at all while others can find the condition debilitating.
It’s hard to say what causes children to start stammering but the NHS reassures parents that it won’t be caused by anything they have done.
They explain that the development of speech is complicated and depends on many factors and that problems can occur when parts of this developing system aren’t quite coordinated.
There are a number of different speech and language therapies for those who struggle with a stammer and each child would have their own tailor made treatment plan.
These could include creating a more relaxed environment to build the child’s confidence and working on the feeling associated with stammering like fear and anxiety.
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“I actually didn’t know that about you and that is commendable,” she wrote. “I apologize and should have made my point respectfully.”
In a recent interview with the Atlantic, Biden recalled his boyhood efforts to overcome his speech impediment.
"It doesn’t—can’t define who you are," Biden said to The Atlantic.
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