Joe Biden calls another reporter a ‘lying dog face’ and brushes off ‘cognitive decline’ question

At his first press conference in weeks Joe Biden briefly lost his patience with a reporter and threw out a signature insult he first lobbed at a student back in February.

Apparently irritated by the reporter’s questioning as he tried to leave the podium at a school in Wilmington, Delaware, Mr Biden snappily called him a “lying dog face” before answering a question on his cognitive health.

It was during the run-up to the New Hampshire primary that Mr Biden called 21-year-old Madison Moore “a lying, dog-faced pony soldier” – an epithet that Mr Biden’s campaign said was a John Wayne reference, though its true provenance (if any) is somewhat unclear.

While the exchange with Ms Moore was clearly amicable enough, Mr Biden has had sharp words for voters on the campaign trail before, on one occasion last year calling an 83-year-old man in Iowa a “damn liar”.

The question that the reporter managed to get in as Mr Biden’s patience wore thin was on what’s become Donald Trump’s main theme of the campaign, namely that Mr Biden is suffering visible symptoms of cognitive decline and is almost at the point of senility.

“Some have speculated that you are subject to some degree of cognitive decline,” the journalist asked. “I’m 65, I don’t have word recollection like I used to have, I forget my train of thought from time to time. You got 12 years on me, sir. Have you been tested for some degree of cognitive decline?”

Mr Biden grinned. “I’ve been tested, I’m constantly tested.

“Look, all you gotta do is watch me, and I can hardly wait to compare my cognitive capability to the cognitive capability of the man I’m running against. Thank you so much.”