The elderly Iowa voter who became embroiled in a heated exchange with Joe Biden at a campaign stop on Thursday has been identified as an 83-year-old veteran.
Merle Gorman, who previously served in the United States Marine Corp and is also a retired farmer, made international news after he accused Biden of selling access to the Presidency by sending son Hunter to Ukraine to work for a gas company Burisma Holdings.
The comment caused Biden to blow up in rage, labeling the elderly Gorman as 'a damn liar'.
Gorman told The New York Post on Thursday evening: 'I'm positive 90% of the people there didn't know about his son working on the board in Ukraine. I wanted it brought out there'.
He added that he felt compelled to question Biden about his son's activities in the Ukraine as all 'the others [questions] were softballs questions'.
'They [other attendees at the campaign stop] might as well have been asking him what color the chandelier was in the vice president's office,' Gorman told The Post.
Footage of the confrontation has now gone viral, with Gorman seen stating: 'Trump has been messing around in Ukraine, he's [got] no backbone... but you, on the other hand, sent your son over there, gave him a job working with a gas company, he had no experience with gas or nothing, in order to get access for the president.
'You're selling access to the president just like he [Trump] does,' Gorman concluded.
Face-off: Merle Gorman, 83, caused Vice President Biden to explode in rage after he said he had got his son Hunter a job and sold access to 'the president.' Biden hit back: 'You're a damn liar, man. That's not true.'
Confrontation: The retired farmer who was involved in the heated exchange with Biden was rushed by reporters after the event
Biden was clearly enraged by the accusation, seen pacing the floor furiously before walking up to Gorman as if to confront him physically.
Gorman told The Post that he believes: 'The exchange speaks for itself.
'He [Biden] didn't have the guts to explain the situation, and that's what I wanted.'
Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy firm
'He got p**ed off and stomped around … I wish he had explained in a decent tone of voice why he got his son in that position over there and in my opinion he had no business whatsoever sticking his nose over there.'
Trump allies have gone after Hunter Biden for taking a lucrative job on a Ukrainian energy firm's board at a time when Joe Biden was vice president with a portfolio that included Ukraine. Biden has said he never speaks to his son about his work.
Meanwhile, during the heated exchange, Gorman also told Biden, 77, that he was too old to be running for office.
'I am 83 and I know damn well I don't have the mental faculties I did when I was 30 years old,' Gorman can be seen saying in the viral clip.
Biden snaps back: 'You want to check my shape man, let's do push-ups together here, man. Let's run. Let's do whatever you want to do. Let's take an IQ test. Ok?'
But Gorman believes he was making a fair assessment of Biden's age, telling the Post: 'I know for a fact my mental faculties have slipped since I hit the 70s.
'I got a friend in New Hampton who is 105 years old and he can do push-ups, so it doesn't mean anything about how smart you are'
The confrontation was at a small campaign stop at Chickasaw Event Center in New Hampton, Iowa, part of his No Malarkey! bus tour
During the exchange, Biden furiously told Gorman 'You're too old to vote for me,' despite the fact the pair are only six years apart in age.
Meanwhile, Biden's camp has aggressively denied the former vice president fat shamed Gorman, after it challenging him to the push-up contest.
Biden aide Symone Sanders has also pushed back on claims Biden called Gorman 'fat' during their exchange.
Video of the incident suggests Biden said to Gorman at one point: 'Look, fat, here's the deal.'
Sanders vehemently denied that, claiming Biden said: 'Look, fact, here's the deal.'
Sanders wrote on Twitter: 'To be clear: Any assertion VP Biden said a word about the gentleman's appearance is making this something it is not. In the latter part of the exchange, the VP began to say 'Look, facts' then said 'here's the deal.' If you've been to a Biden event, you've heard this before'.
The confrontation came on a day when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 79, unloaded on a reporter who asked if she 'hated' President Trump, 73.
She had just announced she had instructed committee chairs to begin drawing up articles of impeachment against Trump, in part based on the president's actions pushing Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.
Pelosi said she 'prayed' for the president, who tweeted furiously in response that he did not believe her.
Also on Thursday, when reporter asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 'Do you hate the president?' she became unusually angry and insisted she doesn't 'hate' anyone: 'Don't mess with me when it comes to words like that!'
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