Biden appears in live interview with Howard Stern

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at a conference held by the North America’s Building Trades Unions at the Washington Hilton in Washington, U.S., April 24, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo

NEW YORK (Reuters) – President Joe Biden appeared on a live radio broadcast with interviewer Howard Stern on Friday, telling family stories and saying his stutter prepared him for the hard knocks of life.

Biden said the stutter that he has had since childhood was the best thing that happened to him. Biden eventually conquered the stutter but it occasionally returns in his public speaking.

The Stern interview came as Biden was in New York for political events. It was heavy on biographical details as the Democrat attempts to make himself more approachable to voters.

Biden also said his father, Joseph Robinette Biden senior, showed him tough love, telling a story about getting knocked out while playing football when he was in the fourth grade.

“My dad walked out with us and said, Joey get up. Just get up. Gotta get up,” he said.

(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw, Steve Holland and Katherine Jackson)