Joe Biden's Latest Fumble: President Confuses French President Emmanuel Macron With Dead Ex-Leader François Mitterrand
Feb. 6 2024, Published 11:19 a.m. ET
President Joe Biden slipped up yet again during a speech in Las Vegas on Sunday, February 4. This time, he appeared to confuse French President Emmanuel Macron with the former French leader François Mitterrand, who died in 1996.
“It was in the south of England. And I sat down and I said, ‘America is back,’ and Mitterrand from Germany, I mean from France, looked at me and said – said, ‘you know what — why — how long you back for?’” Biden said, referring to the conversation at the G7 summit in which NATO heads chatted about the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
“And I looked at him, and the — and the chancellor of Germany said, ‘What would you say Mr. President, if you picked up the paper tomorrow in the London Times and the London Times said, ‘A thousand people break through the House of Commons, break down the doors, two Bobbies are killed in order to stop the election of a prime minister. What would you say?’" he continued. “I never thought about it from that perspective. What would we say if that happened in another democracy around the world?”
In the official transcript, it was revealed that Biden, 81, was supposed to say Macron, who has been French president since 2017, but instead said Mitterrand, who died on January 8, 1996, at 79 years old.
Of course, people were astounded at the recent gaffe.
One person said, "This is not scary, the main thing is that he knows that France is a country overseas," while another wrote, "Standard Biden day. Why has the clown not been removed?"
A third person added: "Yeah, he’s just fine. Perfectly healthy. Great candidate for the Democrats. As a matter of fact, I cannot think of anyone better to represent that party. He’s the one!"
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This is hardly the first time Biden's age and mental fitness has been questioned throughout his presidency.
Even Biden's VP, Kamala Harris, commented on whether or not Biden is up for the job, especially as he's on the campaign trail ahead of the 2024 election.
"The age thing, voters are concerned. According to almost every poll, that is an issue. And I was curious to get your take on this – four years ago, I think it was a rally in Detroit, and then-candidate Biden was at a rally with you, Cory Booker and Gretchen Whitmer…He says, ‘Look, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else. There's an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. They are the future of the country.’ And I wondered, when you heard that, if you thought that was a four-year bridge or an eight-year bridge?” Katie Couric, 67, asked Harris during her podcast, which released on Wednesday, January 24.
Harris then was asked again if she's equipped to handle being president should that occur.
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A reporter asked Harris, "President Biden's age is on voters' minds, especially during this election. What do you have to say to Americans that are concerned by his ability to run the country, and your readiness to step in at any given moment to help?" to which she replied, "Well, of course I'm ready. But that's not the point, [Biden] is going to be fine. Let me just say this — he is fine."