Vice President Joe Biden hesitantly weighed in on the controversy surrounding Newt Gingrich's marital past today, addressing the accusation that the Republican presidential candidate wanted an "open marriage" with his former wife.

"I have no comment," Biden initially told Ryan Seacrest in an interview on KIIS-FM when asked about the allegation from Gingrich's second wife.

"Look, this is quicksand," Biden said. "I think that Newt Gingrich, as we all are, is going to be judged by the voters in the primary on the totality of who he is, and that includes everything. People make judgments about our character. They make judgments about our positions. I just don't have any comment."

Gingrich has denied the claim and scolded the "negative nature" of the news media, saying it makes it harder to attract decent people to run for public office.

"This is not an endeavor for the faint-hearted," Biden told Seacrest. "The sincerity meter of the American public is pretty well attuned. I think the one thing that the public punishes a public official for is if he or she turns out to be different than what they advertise themselves to be.

"And, by the way, we don't have to answer every question we're asked. We may get penalized for that answer, and that's for the public to judge," Biden said. "You know, if you can't stand the heat, you shouldn't be in the kitchen."