--- title: Sarah Sanders Apologizes to Joe Biden For Mocking Stutter description: Sanders apologized for a now-deleted tweet that seemed to mock someone with a stutter. Biden has long been open about his childhood stutter. canonical: https://time.com/5753754/sarah-huckabee-sanders-biden-stuttering-tweet/ author: Madeleine Carlisle article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-12-20T15:51:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T07:57:31.328Z article:section: Politics og:title: Sarah Huckabee Sanders Apologizes To Joe Biden After Mocking Debate Response on Stuttering og:description: Sanders apologized for a now-deleted tweet that seemed to mock someone with a stutter. Biden has long been open about his childhood stutter. og:url: https://time.com/5753754/sarah-huckabee-sanders-biden-stuttering-tweet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e4438decb4d90c1/698a07d8096a94fe516a77c8/sanders-biden-stuttering.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: sanders biden stuttering og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sarah Huckabee Sanders Apologizes To Joe Biden After Mocking Debate Response on Stuttering twitter:description: Sanders apologized for a now-deleted tweet that seemed to mock someone with a stutter. Biden has long been open about his childhood stutter. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e4438decb4d90c1/698a07d8096a94fe516a77c8/sanders-biden-stuttering.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Sarah Huckabee Sanders Apologizes To Joe Biden After Mocking Debate Response on Stuttering > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ec4084aa-f866-4070-9f7f-9c73161d238c&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/subscribe?i=ec4084aa-f866-4070-9f7f-9c73161d238c&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's politics newsletter? D.C. Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Madeleine Carlisle](https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Dec 20, 2019 3:51 PM UTC  Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the Democratic presidential primary debate at Loyola Marymount University on December 19, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the Democratic presidential primary debate at Loyola Marymount University on December 19, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.Getty Images—2019 Getty Images  by [Madeleine Carlisle](https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Dec 20, 2019 3:51 PM UTC [During the sixth Democratic Presidential primary debate](https://time.com/5753060/debate-live-updates/) on Thursday in Los Angeles, former Vice President and 2020 candidate Joe Biden told a story about mentoring a child with a stutter, explaining the boy said to him, “I I I I I I I I I can’t talk. What do I do?” Shortly after that moment, former White House Press Secretary Huckabee Sanders tweeted, ““I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I hhhave absolutely no idea what Biden is talking about.” The tweet has since been deleted. > [](https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1207876248896200705) “To be clear was not trying to make fun of anyone with a speech impediment,” she added in a [second, also-deleted tweet](https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/20/sarah-sanders-joe-biden-stutter-088555) as she faced swift backlash. “Simply pointing out I can’t follow much of anything Biden is talking about.” Biden has repeatedly spoken about working to overcome his boyhood stutter to become an effective public speaker, such as in a recent[ profile in _The Atlantic_](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/01/joe-biden-stutter-profile/602401/) that explored whether any remnants of his stutter could be emerging during the Democratic debates. Biden described the ways both students and teachers mocked him for his speech as a child, and the ways he’d practice passages from literature in the mirror at night to work on speaking fluidly. “Stuttering gave me an insight I don’t think I ever would have had into other people’s pain,” he told _The Atlantic_. Biden hit back at Sanders with a tweet of his own later Thursday night: “I’ve worked my whole life to overcome a stutter. And it’s my great honor to mentor kids who have experienced the same. It’s called empathy. Look it up.” Sanders then apologized to Biden. “I actually didn’t know that about you and that is commendable. I apologize and should have made my point respectfully,” she wrote. > [](https://twitter.com/SarahHuckabee/status/1207875807806406662) In a [2015 letter to the Stuttering Foundation of America](https://www.stutteringhelp.org/vice-president-letter), Biden wrote, “I personally understand the terrible fear and frustration of a stutter. My stutter embarrassed me and made me question myself and my abilities daily… I promise you—you have nothing to be ashamed of, and you have every reason to be proud.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5753754/sarah-huckabee-sanders-biden-stuttering-tweet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5753754/sarah-huckabee-sanders-biden-stuttering-tweet/"},"headline":"Sarah Huckabee Sanders Apologizes To Joe Biden After Mocking Debate Response on Stuttering","datePublished":"2019-12-20T15:51:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T07:57:31.328Z","description":"Biden has long been open about his childhood stutter","url":"https://time.com/5753754/sarah-huckabee-sanders-biden-stuttering-tweet/","keywords":["democrats","2020","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e4438decb4d90c1/698a07d8096a94fe516a77c8/sanders-biden-stuttering.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Madeleine Carlisle","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e4438decb4d90c1/698a07d8096a94fe516a77c8/sanders-biden-stuttering.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"sanders biden stuttering","caption":"sanders biden stuttering","creditText":"Getty Images—2019 Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5753754/sarah-huckabee-sanders-biden-stuttering-tweet/","name":"Sarah Huckabee Sanders Apologizes To Joe Biden After Mocking Debate Response on Stuttering"}}]}] ```