Presidential hopeful Joe Biden has raised eyebrows by joking a young woman a “lying dog-faced pony soldier” at an election rally.
The Democratic candidate, who was Barack Obama’s vice president during his eight years in power, has reportedly used the phrase before.
He says it comes from the 1953 John Wayne film Hondo.
The odd exchange happened while Mr Biden was speaking at a rally ahead of the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.
It comes following the disastrous Iowa primary, which was marred by an array of problems and also dented the Biden campaign.
The woman who quizzed Mr Biden asked him why he fared so dismally in Iowa - he finished fourth behind Peter Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
Mr Biden, who is 77 years old, asked her if she had been to a caucus.
The senior Democrat only picked up 15.8 per cent of the vote in Iowa, picking up just six delegates compared to Mr Sanders’ 12 and Mr Buttigieg’s 13.
On his performance in New England this week Mr Biden added: "No matter what happens in this state... I'm going to keep moving."
