Washington: Facing criticism, potential 2008 presidential candidate Joe Biden defended a recent remark that ''you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.''
Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Friday that his words were taken out of context and misunderstood.
On a recent edition of the C-SPAN television series Road to the White House, Biden is shown in New Hampshire, where the first primary election of the campaign traditionally is held, boasting about his support among Indian-Americans.
''I've had a great relationship. In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking,'' the senator said. The names are franchise stores found in communities across the United States.
The clip made its way through cyberspace this week and caught fire in Washington, where Biden is known as being among the more long-winded senators.
Visiting troops and officials in Iraq this week, Biden was asked about the comment during an interview with CNN's "The Situation Room."
The senator said he has had an "incredibly strong" relationship with the Indian-American community in Delaware, and his comment was misinterpreted.
"I was making the point that up until now in my state, we've had a strong Indian community made up of leading scientists and researchers and engineers," Biden said.
Lately, he said: "We're having middle-class people move to Delaware, take over Dunkin' Donuts, take over businesses, just like other immigrant groups have, and I was saying that ... they're growing, it's moving."
"I could have said that 40 years ago about walking into a delicatessen and saying an Italian accent in my state," Biden added.
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