Charlie Baker is many things, but a jazz legend he is not.
That’s despite the bungled shout-out that former Vice President Joe Biden attempted to give the governor during the Democratic presidential hopeful’s livestreamed address on Monday, in which Biden referred to Baker as “Gov. Charlie Parker of Massachusetts.”
Charlie Parker — known as “Bird” or “Yardbird” — was a Grammy-winning jazz saxophonist who pioneered what became known as bebop. He played alongside fellow famed jazz man Dizzy Gillespie for years before dying young, at age 34 in 1955.
The 63-year-old Charlie Baker has been the governor of Massachusetts since 2015, and previously served as the head of Harvard Pilgrim.
“We should put politics aside and meet the moment, like governors all across this nation are doing,” Biden said in the livestream, talking about the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
He then listed off several state executives doing what he deemed a good job from both parties, including Democratic Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, plus Govs. Mike DeWine of Ohio and Larry Hogan of Maryland, who are Republicans. The list included “Gov. Charlie Parker in Massachusetts.”
The campaign said the livestream, which has been in the works for more than a week, was watched by 230,000 people. In it, Biden criticized the Trump administration’s response to containing the outbreak while trying to be careful not to seem too overtly political in his approach.
Biden said President Trump has been too slow to act and repeated a call he’s made for weeks, that Trump invoke the Defense Production Act to expedite the manufacture and distribution of medical supplies. He also called for immediate action to expand testing capabilities and investment in research for the development of a vaccine.
Biden has long been known for his verbal missteps. The 78-year-old Democrat is the odds-on favorite to take on Trump, setting up a matchup of septuagenarians who are sometimes less than precise with their words.
Biden recently caused a stir when he called a woman a “lying, dog-faced pony soldier” at a campaign stop.
He also confused New Hampshire for Vermont while campaigning in the first-in-the-nation primary state.
A year ago when Biden visited Boston, he confused Quincy-based Stop & Shop with Rite Aid.
Last year, Biden said, “Poor kids are just as bright as white kids.”
In 2008, as Biden ran for president and then vice president, his stumbles included referring to his running mate as “Barack America.” At a campaign rally, he encouraged a wheelchair-bound Missouri state senator to stand up so the audience could give him a cheer.
— Herald wire services contributed to this report.
