Joe Biden jokingly called a college student in New Hampshire a "lying, dog-faced pony soldier" during a campaign event

The student, Madison, of Mercer University in Georgia, began by asking Biden how he could remain competitive in the race after that performance.

"It's a good question," Biden responded. "Number one: Iowa's a democratic caucus. You ever been to a caucus? No you haven't. You're a lying, dog-faced pony soldier. You said you were; but now you got to be honest. I'm gonna be honest with you. It was a little bit confusing in Iowa."

The phrase, from a John Wayne movie, is one Biden has used several times before, his campaign pointed out.

Like Olivia notes, it's a joke that was met with.... drumroll... laughter in the room and from the questioner. It's from a John Wayne movie and he's made it plenty of times before. Sorry to ruin the fun twitter! https://t.co/XIbn8wF53W https://t.co/5D0Kk06RGK

— Remi Yamamoto (@RemiMYamamoto) February 9, 2020

But it still confused the woman on the receiving end, who told The Washington Post she thought she’d asked a legitimate question.

“I read an article that he said [Iowa] was a punch to the gut, and I’m not one to just push on wounds. I’m not trying to humiliate anyone,” Madison Moore, a 21-year-old student at Mercer University in Georgia, told the outlet.

“He wasn’t sitting in at the Senate trials for impeachment, so he had Iowa to himself. And then you’ve been a politician for like decades — how are you not way above all the other candidates?”

At the campaign event, Biden told Moore that he doesn’t think the Iowa caucus is a good measure of how a candidate will perform in other states.