Capt. ‘Sully’ Sullenberger pens op-ed in defense of Biden: ‘I once stuttered, too. I dare you to mock me’

Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the retired pilot known for safely landing US Airways Flight 1549 in 2009, authored a New York Times op-ed Saturday defending former Vice President Joe Biden amid mocking comments made about him and his stutter earlier in the week. 

Sullenberger, who admits that he also had a stutter, began the piece by reflecting on his childhood in Denison, Texas, and how hard speaking in class was for him.

“Those feelings came rushing back, when I heard Lara Trump mocking former Vice President Joe Biden at a Trump campaign event, with the very words that caused my childhood agony,” he wrote.

“‘Joe, can you get it out?’ Ms. Trump was seen saying onstage, as a few giggles are heard from an otherwise silent audience. ‘Let’s get the words out, Joe,'” he continued.

Sullenberger disclosed that he attended a campaign fundraiser for the 2020 Democratic hopeful last year but added that Lara Trump’s words go “beyond politics.”

“Stop. Grow up. Show some decency. People who can’t, have no place in public life,” he wrote, seeming to direct his words at President Trump’s daughter-in-law.

The retired pilot then said his stutter didn’t stop from being an “Air Force fighter pilot, an airline pilot, or even a public speaker.”

He concluded with a message for children who struggle with stuttering: “You are fine, just as you are. You can do any job you dream of when you grow up.”

“You can be a pilot who lands your plane on a river and helps save lives, or a president who treats people with respect, rather than making fun of them,” he continued.