- Marine vet and retired farmer, Merle Gorman, 83, confronted Joe Biden, 77, during a campaign stop in Iowa on Thursday
- Gorman claimed Biden sold access to the Presidency by allowing his son Hunter to serve on the the board of a Ukranian gas company while he was vice president
- Biden reacted in rage after the accusation, describing Gorman as a ‘damned liar’
- Gorman has since told reporters he was not satisfied with Biden’s response
- ‘The exchange speaks for itself… He didn’t have the guts to explain the situation, and that’s what I wanted’ Gorman told The News York Post
The elderly Iowa voter who became embroiled in a heated exchange with Joe Biden at a campaign stop on Thursday has been identified as an 83-year-old veteran.
Merle Gorman, who previously served in the United States Marine Corp and is also a retired farmer, made international news after he accused Biden of selling access to the Presidency by sending son Hunter to Ukraine to work for a gas company Burisma Holdings.
The comment caused Biden to blow up in rage, labeling the elderly Gorman as ‘a damn liar’.
Gorman told The New York Post on Thursday evening: ‘I’m positive 90% of the people there didn’t know about his son working on the board in Ukraine. I wanted it brought out there’.
He added that he felt compelled to question Biden about his son’s activities in the Ukraine as all ‘the others [questions] were softballs questions’.
‘They [other attendees at the campaign stop] might as well have been asking him what color the chandelier was in the vice president’s office,’ Gorman told The Post.
Footage of the confrontation has now gone viral, with Gorman seen stating: ‘Trump has been messing around in Ukraine, he’s [got] no backbone… but you, on the other hand, sent your son over there, gave him a job working with a gas company, he had no experience with gas or nothing, in order to get access for the president.
‘You’re selling access to the president just like he [Trump] does,’ Gorman concluded.
Face-off: Merle Gorman, 83, caused Vice President Biden to explode in rage after he said he had got his son Hunter a job and sold access to ‘the president.’ Biden hit back: ‘You’re a damn liar, man. That’s not true.’
Confrontation: The retired farmer who was involved in the heated exchange with Biden was rushed by reporters after the event
Biden was clearly enraged by the accusation, seen pacing the floor furiously before walking up to Gorman as if to confront him physically.
Gorman told The Post that he believes: ‘The exchange speaks for itself.
‘He [Biden] didn’t have the guts to explain the situation, and that’s what I wanted.’
Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy firm
‘He got p**ed off and stomped around … I wish he had explained in a decent tone of voice why he got his son in that position over there and in my opinion he had no business whatsoever sticking his nose over there.’
Trump allies have gone after Hunter Biden for taking a lucrative job on a Ukrainian energy firm’s board at a time when Joe Biden was vice president with a portfolio that included Ukraine. Biden has said he never speaks to his son about his work.
Meanwhile, during the heated exchange, Gorman also told Biden, 77, that he was too old to be running for office.
‘I am 83 and I know damn well I don’y have the mental faculties I did when I was 30 years old,’ Gorman can be seen saying in the viral clip.
Biden snaps back: ‘You want to check my shape man, let’s do push-ups together here, man. Let’s run. Let’s do whatever you want to do. Let’s take an IQ test. Ok?’
But Gorman believes he was making a fair assessment of Biden’s age, telling the Post: ‘I know for a fact my mental faculties have slipped since I hit the 70s.
‘I got a friend in New Hampton who is 105 years old and he can do push-ups, so it doesn’t mean anything about how smart you are’