In remarks at a hunger conference she helped plan, Joe Biden called out a congressman who had recently passed away, speaking to the legislator as if she were still living.
In his remarks on Wednesday at a conference on hunger, Biden thanked a cross-party group of lawmakers, including Democratic New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, Democratic Massachusetts Representative Jim McGovern, Republican Indiana Senator Mike Braun, and the late Republican Indiana Representative Jackie Walorski, for pressuring the White House to organize the event.
“Is Jackie present? How is Jackie doing? She was probably going to be here, “said Biden.
Walorski perished in an automobile accident on August 3. Additionally killed in the crash, which happened in her Indiana district, were two of her employees. The Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office found that the Toyota RAV4 driven by staffer Zachery Potts was at fault in the crash.
At the time of her death, Biden stated that he and the first lady were “shocked and saddened” by the news. Biden said that although he disagreed with Walorski on many issues “, she was respected by members of both parties for her work on the House Ways and Means Committee on which she served.”
The Indiana congresswoman and the three other lawmakers introduced legislation last year to convene the hunger conference. Biden, at the gathering, laid out a plan to tackle high obesity rates and end chronic hunger by 2030.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Biden’s remark.
