text: Cruz mocks Biden, then apologizes The joke had been a winner in the past for the Texas Republican. 
   
   Sen. Ted Cruz rapidly apologized Wednesday after making a joke at the expense of Vice President Joe Biden, whose son died during the weekend. 
   
   Cruz, speaking in Michigan, trotted out an old line of his: “Joe Biden … You know what the nice thing is? You don’t even need a punch line. I promise you it works. At the next party you’re at, just walk up to someone and say, ‘Vice President Joe Biden,’ and just close your mouth. They will crack up laughing,” according to reports on MLive.com. 
   
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   The insult had been a winner in the past for the Texas Republican — Biden jokes are a staple of his standard stump speeches — but this time the joke drew immediate criticism on social media from people who noted that the vice president is grieving for his son Beau, who died of brain cancer on Saturday at the age of 46. 
   
   Cruz subsequently issued an apology on Facebook: “It was a mistake to use an old joke about Joe Biden during his time of grief, and I sincerely apologize. The loss of his son is heartbreaking and tragic, and our prayers are very much with the Vice President and his family.” 
   
   He also tweeted an apology, which linked to his Facebook page. 
   
   Detroit News reporter Chad Livengood tweeted that he questioned Cruz about the joke immediately after the speech and that “the Texas senator turned and walked away.” Livengood described the reaction to Cruz’s joke as “faint laughter.” 
   
   The GOP presidential contender was speaking in Howell, Michigan, to approximately 650 people at a gathering of Livingston County Republicans. The event, billed as a Lincoln Day Dinner, featured a VIP reception at $150 per person and $250 per couple. 
   
   Saul Anuzis, Cruz’s campaign chair in the state, had tweeted a message: “600+ strong listening to Ted Cruz in Michigan!” Later, Anuzis was quoted by Livengood as saying that the senator meant no disrespect with his stab at humor. “Timing could have been better,” Anuzis said. 
   
   Beau Biden is to lie in state Thursday in Dover in his home state of Delaware. His funeral will be Saturday in Wilmington; President Barack Obama will deliver a eulogy. ||||| Ted Cruz talks with supporter Heather Huntley, who holds daughter Audrey, 7 months, at the Livingston County Lincoln Day Dinner. (Photo: John M. Galloway / Special to The Detroit News) 
   
   Howell — GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz apologized Wednesday night for telling a joke at a Livingston County Republican dinner about Joe Biden less than a week after the vice president lost his eldest son to brain cancer. 
   
   "Vice President Joe Biden," the Texas senator said to faint laughter among 650 Republicans packed in a Howell banquet hall Wednesday. "You know the nice thing? You don't need a punch line." 
   
   "I promise you it works," Cruz added. "The next party you're at, just walk up to someone and say, 'Vice President Joe Biden' and just close your mouth. They will crack up laughing." 
   
   "Vice President Joe Biden," @TedCruz says to faint laughter. "You know the nice thing? You don't need a punch line." #JoeBiden — Chad Livengood (@ChadLivengood) June 3, 2015 
   
   The presidential candidate's comments immediately set off a social media firestorm on Twitter. Cruz issued an apology less than an hour after his keynote speech ended. 
   
   "It was a mistake to use an old joke about Joe Biden during his time of grief, and I sincerely apologize," Cruz said in a statement. "The loss of his son is heartbreaking and tragic, and our prayers are very much with the Vice President and his family." 
   
   Biden's eldest son, Beau, died Saturday of brain cancer. Beau Biden was a former two-term attorney general of Delaware and is to be buried Saturday in the Biden's hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. 
   
   Cruz used the joke to talk about Biden's past comments about firing off a double-barrel shotgun to ward off intruders — one of several stump-speech jabs at Democrats. 
   
   "That is very, very good advice — if it so happens that you're being attacked by a flock of geese," Cruz said. 
   
   When asked why he told a Joe Biden joke, Cruz turned and walked away. 
   
   Cruz was the keynote speaker for the Livingston County Republican Party's Lincoln Day dinner at Crystal Gardens banquet center in Howell. 
   
   "He clearly wasn't trying to be disrespectful," said Saul Anuzis, Cruz's Michigan campaign chairman and a former Michigan Republican Party chair. "Timing could have been better." 
   
   Lon Johnson, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, slammed Cruz late Wednesday night for the Biden remarks. 
   
   "When it counted, and it always does for someone attempting to become the leader of our nation, Sen. Cruz demonstrated a true lack of Christian compassion for a father mourning a son," Johnson said in a statement. 
   
   Cruz's visit to Howell was his first campaign event in Michigan since launching his campaign for president in March. 
   
   "He's willing to fight for what's right, even against the Grand Poobahs up in Washington," said state Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton Township, who also is a leader in Cruz's Michigan campaign. 
   
   A conservative firebrand in the U.S. Senate, Cruz made clear he intends to appeal to constitutionally conscious Republicans, Evangelical Christians and Reagan Democrats in Michigan's March 8 presidential primary next year. 
   
   "Michigan is ground zero for the Reagan Democrats, the working men and women getting hammered by the Obama (agenda)," Cruz said. "…We are working to build a grassroots army across Michigan and every state in the union." 
   
   Cruz called for a federal flat tax, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service and repealing "every word of Obamacare." 
   
   He said there would be consequences of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton succeeding Democratic President Barack Obama in the White House. 
   
   "If we have four or eight more years going down this road, I think we risk losing the great country in history," Cruz said. 
   
   clivengood@detroitnews.com 
   
   (517) 371-3660 
   
   Twitter.com/ChadLivengood 
   
   Read or Share this story: http://detne.ws/1IiXpJQ ||||| Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a GOP presidential candidate, quickly apologized Wednesday night after cracking a joke he’s used before about Vice President Biden, whose son Beau died on Saturday. 
   
   Speaking in Howell, Mich., Cruz mentioned Biden’s name to a GOP group, then, according to a reporter from The Detroit News, said: “You know the nice thing? You don’t need a punch line.” 
   
   "Vice President Joe Biden," @TedCruz says to faint laughter. "You know the nice thing? You don't need a punch line." #JoeBiden — Chad Livengood (@ChadLivengood) June 3, 2015 
   
   Cruz has delivered the line at Biden’s expense in the past, but the timing of Wednesday’s remark, coming just days after Beau Biden’s death after a battle with brain cancer, sparked immediate criticism on social media. 
   
   Cruz apologized in a Facebook post after the event, saying “It was a mistake to use an old joke about Joe Biden during his time of grief, and I sincerely apologize.” 
   
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   Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz has apologized for making a joke about Joe Biden just days after the vice president's eldest son died from brain cancer. 
   
   "Vice President Joe Biden. You know the nice thing? You don't need a punchline," the Texas senator said at a GOP dinner in Howell, Michigan, on Wednesday night. 
   
   "I promise you it works. The next party you're at, just walk up to someone and say, 'Vice President Joe Biden' and just close your mouth. They will crack up laughing," he said, repeating a joke he has used in previous speeches. 
   
   Ted Cruz comments on Joe Biden. http://t.co/m3y7NP1xbO -Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin) June 4, 2015 
   
   Cruz told reporters after the event that 46-year-old Beau Biden's death on Saturday was "heartbreaking and tragic" and said his prayers were with the vice president and his family. 
   
   But when Cruz was asked by Detroit News reporter Chad Livengood: "Why did you tell a joke about the vice president tonight?" the senator walked away without commenting. The joke and exchange with reporters was uploaded to YouTube by Democratic super PAC American Bridge 21st Century. 
   
   How Ted Cruz responded when @ChadLivengood asked about his tastelessly timed @VP joke. https://t.co/rcUZLzT0Kc -Scott Charton (@ScottCharton) June 4, 2015 
   
   After a considerable backlash on social media, Cruz posted on his Facebook page late Wednesday saying "it was a mistake to use an old joke about Joe Biden during his time of grief, and I sincerely apologize." 
   
   The post added: "The loss of his son is heartbreaking and tragic, and our prayers are very much with the vice president and his family."
target: – Telling the same tired joke over and over again is arguably just as bad as telling a "too soon" joke in bad taste. Ted Cruz earned the distinction of doing both yesterday in Michigan after he regurgitated a wisecrack he's used before about Joe Biden, just days after the vice president's son, Beau, died of brain cancer. Speaking in Howell at a GOP dinner, Cruz said, "Vice President Joe Biden. You know the nice thing? You don't need a punch line," NBC News reports. "I promise you it works. The next party you're at, just walk up to someone and say, 'Vice President Joe Biden' and just close your mouth. They will crack up laughing." Except no one was really cracking up (Detroit News reporter Chad Livengood tweeted there was "faint laughter" in the audience), and Cruz was quickly taken to task on social media for mocking the VP while he's grieving, Politico notes. Livengood tweeted that when he asked Cruz after the event about the ill-timed joke, Cruz simply walked away (Livengood also retweeted a video of the brief encounter). Cruz issued an apology last night on both Twitter and Facebook, USA Today notes, which read, "It was a mistake to use an old joke about Joe Biden during his time of grief, and I sincerely apologize. The loss of his son is heartbreaking and tragic, and our prayers are very much with the Vice President and his family." Saul Anuzis, Cruz's campaign manager in Michigan, told Livengood, "Timing could have been better," per the Detroit News.