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Joe Biden Appeared on Law and Order: SVU and the Internet Loved It

US US Vice President Joe Biden Campaigns With Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in Scranton, PA
Mark Makela—Getty Images U.S. Vice President Joe Biden listens as Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton delivers remarks at Riverfront Sports athletic facility on August 15, 2016 in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Biden used his role to talk about the backlog of rape kits across the U.S.

Vice President Joe Biden made a cameo appearance on the latest episode of Law and Order: SVU Wednesday night.

Biden’s guest appearance was the crown jewel of an episode already overstuffed with delightful pop culture touchstones. Henry Thomas, the actor who once upon a time played Elliott in E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, played a man found guilty of rape then later cleared on flawed DNA evidence — only to be suspected in a more violent crime later on. If this premise sounds familiar, it’s because it’s a nod to the wildly popular Netflix series Making a Murderer.

Biden’s appearance was a political exercise of sorts: he used it to speak out against the backlog of rape kits at police departments across the U.S.

His fans mostly seemed delighted just to see him.

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