Yesterday, an eighty-three-year-old retired farmer named Merle Gorman addressed Joe Biden at a New Hampton, Iowa campaign event.

Gorman rightly questioned his son Hunter’s qualifications for a lucrative post he once held on the board of a Ukrainian gas company, a job which saw him compensated up to $50,000 some months. (Though Gorman more dubiously insinuated that the former vice president had “sent” him to work there.)

Instead of correcting him the best he could, or addressing his concerns, Biden responded with absolute vitriol. “You’re a damn liar, man.” He then touted his physical strength and mental alacrity, and appeared to call Gorman fat: “Look, fat — look, here’s the deal.” (His campaign has unconvincingly claimed he was trying to say “facts.”) As his supporters cheered on, Biden encouraged the man to a push-up competition or to compare IQ scores with him.