Joe Biden has come under fire again for a gaffe while making a speech this week.
The U.S. President appeared to confuse the current French president, Emmanuel Macron, with his predecessor, Francois Mitterrand, who died in 1996 and didn’t seem to notice the error.
Following his blunder, Biden was slammed on social media, with many questioning whether he still retains his full mental faculties.
Joe Biden’s Latest Gaffe Shocks Social Media Users
President Joe Biden recently caused a stir on social media as he once again made a blunder during a campaign speech in Las Vegas.
During the speech, Biden recounted a conversation from the G7 summit where NATO leaders had a conversation about the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. However, the 81-year-old president inadvertently confused the name of former French president Francois Mitterrand, who passed away in 1996, with Emmanuel Macron, the current president of France.
“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 in his speech.
Biden then mentioned that Angela Merkel, the ex-chancellor of Germany, inquired about what would be his reaction if the British Parliament was stormed. In response, he said he had “never thought about it from that perspective.”
Social Media Users React To Joe Biden’s Gaffe
WATCH: Joe Biden says he recently met with “Mitterand from Germany.”
Mitterand was the FRENCH President between 1981 and 1995.
He also died in 1996. pic.twitter.com/W0YPBDp69n
— Raheem. (@RaheemKassam) February 5, 2024
On social media, many users have slammed Biden for the blunder, with one person even suggesting that the president had a mental ailment.
The user alleged, “The Leader of the Free World has Alzheimer’s, and everyone knows it!”
Another follower joked, “He probably did meet him. Old people see dead people more than they see living ones.”
Another person said seeing Biden make the error was “excruciating to watch,” adding that it was “like watching grandpa at the dinner table telling you a story that takes 30 minutes to tell.”
One more person commented, “It would be funny if it were so embarrassing for the U.S. The rest of the world is laughing at him, not with him.”
Another X user claimed that Biden’s gaffe means he has not been the one running the country. The comment read, “I want to know who all are actually running the country. It’s not him, hasn’t been.”
The President Recently Came Under Fire For Calling Trump ‘A Sitting President’
Biden’s latest gaffe comes a few weeks after he was criticized for calling his predecessor Donald Trump “a sitting president.”
While giving a speech on the economy in South Carolina, Biden said, “The American consumers are facing real confidence in the economy we’re building. Let me tell you who else is noticing that- Donald Trump.”
The president then made the shocking mistake, as he asked, “Did you see what he recently said about.. he wants to, he wants to see the economy crash this year? A sitting president.”
Biden continued without correcting himself. He called Trump a “loser” for referring to U.S. fallen soldiers as “suckers and losers” after failing to pay a visit to a cemetery in France.
“[He]referred to those heroes, and I quote, as ‘suckers and losers.’ He actually said that! How dare he say that. The only loser I see is Donald Trump,” Biden said.
The president also claimed that Trump knows that the American economy is “good and strong and getting stronger.” He added, “[Trump] knows that while it’s good for America, it’s bad for him politically.”
President Joe Biden’s Past Blunders
In the past, Biden has been noted for a series of gaffes that have raised concerns about his cognitive abilities.
On multiple occasions, the president mistakenly stated that his son Beau died in Iraq instead of at Walter Reed. Additionally, he confused the ongoing conflict in Ukraine with the Iraq War, which concluded in 2011.
In another instance, during a closing remark in a speech on gun control, he said, “God save the Queen, man,” leaving many puzzled about whether he was referring to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 or Queen Camilla, the current monarch of Britain.
Biden also once claimed that the U.S. has “ended cancer as we know it,” a statement not seemingly backed up by any statistics.
