At final presidential debate, Biden’s ‘malarkey,’ Abraham Lincoln and ‘Poor Boys’ win big

Joe Biden uttered one of his favorite words at the second and last presidential debate Thursday, as if he was saving it just for the occasion.

“Malarkey.”

Biden memorably used the word as a rejoinder to Paul Ryan at a 2012 vice presidential debate. (As in, “That is a bunch of malarkey!”) He even had a “No Malarkey!” sign on his bus during the current presidential campaign.

Viewers seized on the malarkey moment on social media, as if it was the missing square on a debate bingo card or the signal to chug-a-lug during a drinking game.

Biden dropped the malarkey bomb in the middle of the debate with President Donald Trump at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. The debate, hosted by NBC’s Kristen Welker, had new rules in place to prevent candidates from interrupting one another to prevent the chaos seen at the first debate (the opposing candidate’s mic was cut for each initial two-minute answer, but unmuted for the open debate).

But Biden’s well-worn verbal calling card wasn’t the only winning moment on social media Thursday night.

After Trump kept insisting, as he is wont to do, that he was somehow the “least racist person in the room,” Biden also scored points with people watching at home by referring to the sitting president as “Abraham Lincoln here.”

“Abraham Lincoln here is one of the most racist presidents we’ve had in modern history,” Biden said.

Trump had also compared himself to Lincoln during the debate …

Another meme-able Biden moment arrived when Biden mistakenly called the Proud Boys, a white nationalist group, the Poor Boys.

But instead of just correcting the presidential candidate, the mistake drew some fanfare on Twitter.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com.

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.