VP Joe Biden Gives Sen. Charles Grassley’s Wife Big, Wet Kiss

We’re going to miss Vice President Joe Biden and his tweet-worthy antics. Biden’s wending speeches have long been Twitter fodder, but he outdid himself Tuesday during one of his final days in office.

During the ceremonial swearing-in ceremony on the Senate floor, he gave Barbara Grassley — the wife of longtime Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley — a full kiss on the lips. Reporters quickly took to Twitter to share the moment. One of the best tweets was from BuzzFeed’s Emma Loop, who originally identified the woman on the receiving end of the er, full Biden, as Grassley’s mother.

She quickly corrected herself and restored Barbara Grassley’s honor

The internet is full of memes of imaginary conversations between President Obama and Biden, but what he has actually done is funnier and, some say, creepier.

In Iowa in 2015, he called Neal Smith, a popular former longtime congressman, his “butt buddy.”

“Neal Smith,” he said, “an old butt buddy. Are you here, Neal? Neal, I miss you man. I miss you.”

No matter who you are, that's funny.

These incidents, not so much:

Photographers have also caught Biden in some interesting poses. He appeared to grope the wife of Ashton Carter as he was sworn in as secretary of defense in 2015. He also embraced Hillary Clinton for a full 17 seconds. She eventually tapped him on the arm in an effort to get free.

Americans are in love with Biden, though.

During his long public service career, Biden has earned a reputation as America's cool uncle. He bolstered his status among young Americans during a speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Cleveland, when he copiously used the word "malarky" and struck the right balance between irreverence and genuine American spirit.

For weeks after he unburdened himself in a heartfelt interview with late-night host Stephen Colbert in September, Americans talked of Biden with a certain softness in their tones. Both Biden and Colbert choked up at times as they discussed the death of the vice president’s son, Beau, in May.

Photo via Public Domain