Vice President Joe Biden Swears in Defense Secretary, Gets Close With His Wife

— -- Ashton Carter was formally sworn in today as the fourth secretary of defense to serve in the Obama administration -- but it was Vice President Joe Biden who briefly stole the spotlight by whispering in the ear of Carter’s wife, Stephanie, during the middle of the ceremony.

What Biden said as he placed his hands on her shoulders was not clear, but the blogosphere didn’t waste any time getting into speculative innuendo, with some noting "creepy" Biden's "hands-on approach."

Carter appeared in the moment undistracted, talking about his solemn duty to tend to the troops “with the greatest reflection and care.”

The vice president’s office declined to comment about the vice president's whisper.

Perhaps Biden, who moments earlier administered the oath, was checking to see if his wife was OK after her spill in the snow and ice earlier Tuesday. She apparently slipped when getting out of her car at the Pentagon.

When Biden and Stephanie Carter first greeted each other in the Roosevelt Room before the swearing in, the VP was overheard telling her, “We get a whole team. We get two for one.”