Obama has attempted to clarify Joe Biden’s remarks that he would be tested by a “crisis” shortly after taking office, acknowledging that his running mate is prone to “rhetorical flourishes”, Politico reports.

“I think that his core point was that the next administration is going to be tested regardless of who it is. The next administration is going to be inheriting a whole host of really big problems, and so the president is going to be tested,” said Obama.

“Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin have been hammering Obama and Biden since Sunday, when Biden predicted there would be an “international crisis” within the first six months of an Obama administration. Republicans seized on the remark to raise questions about Obama’s readiness to be commander in chief, suggesting that enemies would be tempted to test the one-term senator.”

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