At a campaign event in Hampton, New Hampshire, on Sunday, former Vice President Joe Biden was asked by a young woman why he performed so poorly in the Iowa caucus. His answer surprised many political observers.

"So you're arguably the candidate with the greatest advantage in this race. You were vice president. You weren't burdened down by the impeachment trial," she said. "So how do you explain the performance in Iowa, and why should voters believe that you can win the national election?"

'You're a lying dog-faced pony soldier'

Biden then takes the microphone from her and begins his answer by noting, "It's a good question."

"Number one, Iowa is a Democratic caucus," he said.

"You ever been to a caucus?" he asked the young woman, who appears to nod her head and say yes.

"No, you haven't. You're a lying, dog-faced pony soldier," Biden then quipped while the crowd began to laugh. "You said you were. Now you've got to be honest. Now I'm going to be honest with you."

"It was a little bit confusing in Iowa," he continued as some in the audience chuckled. "But let's assume everything was exactly right in Iowa, the idea that you come in with half the delegates that the leaders come in with in Iowa does not necessarily say how you're going to win Pennsylvania, how you're going to win Michigan ..."

He was joking, but it's still a bad look

The former vice president was joking when he called the young university student "dog-faced," but the exchange will continue to raise questions about his gaffe-prone campaign.

National Review's Alexandra DeSanctis noted on Twitter: "I'd like to humbly suggest that something isn't quite right with this man."

Other political commentators pointed to Biden's tense exchange with a voter in December where he called an older man "fat," which he later denied doing intentionally, and a "damn liar."

"You want to check my shape, man, let's do push-ups together here, man. Let's run," Biden said at the time as he challenged the man on his physical fitness. "Let's do whatever you want to do. Let's take an IQ test. OK?"