SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ – Shortly after Superstorm Sandy struck the Jersey Shore, then Vice-President Joe Biden visited Seaside Heights to inspect the damage. His visit came on November 19th, about three weeks after the storm hit.
He toured the Jersey Shore and met in Seaside Heights with Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, county officials and Chief of Police Thomas Boyd.
It was here that Biden peered out over the ocean, looking at the Jet Star roller coaster being battered by the rough Atlantic Ocean from atop a broken and nearly demolished amusement pier and uttered the words that confused Jersey Shore residents to this day.
“So as the president [Obama] said, when he was up here with the governor, we’re not going anywhere. We’re not going anywhere. And you’ve got a homeboy in the deal who gets it,” Biden told reporters.
To this day, we never knew if Biden was talking about himself or President Biden.
Later, Biden visited the Seaside Heights Fire Department where he went on a punching, spree, punching about a dozen or so residents in the arm and handing out challenge coins.
Joe Biden’s visit to the Jersey Shore ten years ago was as bizarre as his presidency is today.
He even claimed he was ‘literally raised’ at the Jersey Shore.
“I spent all my time on the Jersey Shore during summer. I was literally raised on the shore,” he said.
Here’s what else Biden said during his last trip to the Jersey Shore:
If you’re not an Easterner it’s hard to understand that the ocean to us is the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Park and everything else combined. It is a gigantic part of not only our economy but who we are. It’s a gigantic part of the culture as well.
And every time the rest of the country is in real trouble, New Jersey and Delaware and New York and Connecticut etcetera we respond, we respond. And it’s going to be a heavy lift. These are difficult times in terms of budgets but the president has made it clear that we are going to do everything we can to make sure that the Corps is fully funded, that FEMA has their needs and that all the programs that exist under the auspices of the federal government not only continue to exist but are funded so that we can make sure that this area of the country is fully fully fully restored.
So as the president said when he was up here with the governor, we’re not going anywhere. We’re not not going anywhere. And you’ve got a homeboy in the deal who gets it.
When it came time to settle down and get his own beach house, Biden didn’t choose the Jersey Shore, where he claims he was practically raised, instead, he opted for Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.