Well, Biden just wanted to lubricate some honey around the faces of his potential Jewish primary voters. (someone please correct me if this is not the correct English translation for the German term "jemandem Honig um den Bart schmieren"). There are probably more Jewish voters among Democrats than Anti-Semites, so it was probably a good try.
Yes, that's the literally translation of the term, but I think the English term that would best fit would be "butter them up"
