Speaking to a scrum of reporters, newly minted presidential candidate Joe Biden said he wanted to make America "like we used to be: ethical, straight" on Thursday.

"Do you have a message for the rest of the world?" a reporter asked. Biden, 76, replied, "Yes. America is coming back like we used to be: ethical, straight, telling the truth — supporting our allies. All those good things."

As he begins his 2020 campaign, @JoeBiden channels his inner Donald Trump in saying "America is coming back, like we used to be." pic.twitter.com/Ec6lk6ikWm — Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 25, 2019

Biden, who announced his candidacy on Thursday with a video posted online, has a history of verbal miscues and exaggerations that led him label himself a "gaffe machine."

Stating that "America is coming back like we used to be" was curiously redolent of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign slogan "Make America Great Again," which was also used by Ronald Reagan in his 1980 presidential campaign. Biden's use of the word "straight" appeared distinctly old-fashioned and not a reference to sexual orientation, a prominent usage in the 20th century.

While vice president, Biden was an advocate for gay rights, blindsiding the White House in 2012 by supporting same-sex marriage even before President Barack Obama.

In 1973, however, Biden worried that gay people in government could be security risks. The Morning News, a Wilmington, Del., newspaper, reported his comments to neighbors at an informal meeting: “My gut reaction is that they [homosexuals] are security risks, but I must admit I haven’t given this much thought. … I’ll be darned!