Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Vice President Joe Biden minced no words Thursday in talking about one of the busiest airports
in the world.
BIDEN: "If I took them blindfolded and took them to the LaGuardia Airport in New York,
you might think I must be in some third world country." (Via WCBS)
Ouch. Biden was speaking in Philadelphia on the need to improve America's infrastructure
and also made a quick comparison to Hong Kong's airport. (Via New York Post)
BIDEN: "If I blindfolded someone and took them at 2:00 in the morning to the airport
in Hong Kong and said, 'Where do you think you are,' they'd say, 'This must be America.
It's a modern airport.'" (Via The Washington Free Beacon)
New York media, of course, jumped on the story. They did find some travelers who thought Biden's
remark went too far, but the majority of people willing to do interviews agreed with the vice
president. (Via New York Daily News)
"I mean, I've been to a lot of third world country airports, and this does feel like
something that is out of place."
"I think that's kind of rude to compare it to a third world country. It's kind of elitist."
(Via WNYW)
Biden went on to say it's "embarrassing" and "stupid" the U.S. has fallen 20 spots among
the countries of the world for quality of infrastructure, according to the World Economic
Forum. (Via The Verge)
Now, as far as LaGuardia goes, this isn't the first time someone made this exact comparison.
Donald Trump said essentially the same thing in 2011. (Via New York Daily News)
The Port Authority released a statement Thursday saying efforts to rehab the airport have lagged
for a decade now. (Via WABC)
Just two weeks ago, the Port Authority announced a $3.6 billion renovation project. With Biden's
comments Thursday, it said those efforts have now been fast-tracked.