Joe Biden: Obama 'Has A Big Stick. I Promise You' (VIDEO)

Vice President Joe Biden spoke at length in defense of President Obama's foreign policy on Thursday, managing to draw snickers for a comment about the commander in chief's "big stick."

"I promise you, the president has a big stick," Biden said, after quoting President Teddy Roosevelt's enduring foreign policy advice to "speak softly and carry a big stick."

The audience at New York University responded with scattered laughter.

"I promise you," Biden repeated, deadpanning.

The Associated Press reports on the more mature and substantive content of Biden's speech:

The vice president said Obama had met the foreign policy challenges facing the United States in the 21st century, including ending the war in Iraq and ordering the mission that killed Osama bin Laden.

He said Romney's foreign policy vision is stuck in the Cold War-era.

"Governor Romney is counting on our collective amnesia," Biden said. "But Americans know that we cannot afford to go back to the future."