President Joe Biden has been caught making a rather embarrassing blunder during a speech — yet again.
This latest gaffe came during a speech Tuesday at the White House in which Biden announced his plan to send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine to aid that country in its war against Russia.
The president could not make it two minutes into his remarks without a major stumble.
He turned to acknowledge the work of the two men standing behind him, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, whose title he could not recall.
“The secretary of state and the secretary of the — of the military are behind me,” Biden said.
The president then appeared to narrowly avoid another slip-up, seeming to start to call Austin “speaker” before stopping after the first syllable.
Now, this may not necessarily be the worst gaffe that Biden has ever made, but it is concerning that this seems to be a recurring thing. Biden has forgotten Austin’s title and more on other occasions.
In March 2021, the president did not even try to recall the secretary’s name or position and just referred to him as “the guy who runs that outfit over there.”
Whoops: Biden forgets the name of the Pentagon, as well as the name of his secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin pic.twitter.com/ZtcgHLBIAO
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 8, 2021
In a speech in December 2021, he again couldn’t recall Austin’s title, referring to him as “the, the sec — secretary of the, uh, of the, uh, of — Secretary Austin.”
But Austin is not the only high-profile figure who confounds Biden. There have been numerous incidents in which he forgot the names or titles of some of the most prominent figures in American political life.
For instance, last year, he could not remember the name of then-House Minority Leader and now Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.
Joe Biden appears to forget Kevin McCarthy's name: "The solid meeting with uh…with uh…the uh…" pic.twitter.com/v9XNvxlInh
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 12, 2021
On another occasion, he forgot the name of Mitt Romney, the man he and Barack Obama ran against in the 2012 presidential campaign, merely referring to him as “the senator who was a Mormon.”
.@JoeBiden could not recall Mitt Romney's name during a campaign stop Monday, referring to Romney as "the senator who was a Mormon."https://t.co/dONGk6G7zx pic.twitter.com/2uOXjCfk5s
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) October 13, 2020
Last week, the president bungled the name of Kentanji Brown Jackson, the woman he nominated to the Supreme Court last year, calling her “Kejan — Kejan — Kentanji Drown Jackson.”
Perhaps most embarrassingly of all, on one occasion, Biden forgot the name of Barack Obama, the very man to whom he served as vice president.
Joe Biden appears to forget Barack Obama's name pic.twitter.com/ffyaqSHYBA
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) August 28, 2019
Now while his latest stumble might seem somewhat amusing, as one Twitter user pointed out, it is truly embarrassing and lowers the nation’s prestige.
Joe Biden can't remember the name of his secretary of defense (again), so he calls him the "secretary of the military" — then almost calls him "Speaker." pic.twitter.com/lfLJarNHjd
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 25, 2023
Worse, as this was a speech about providing tanks to Ukraine after he previously said doing so might cause “World War III,” this cannot possibly inspire confidence in our allies. In fact, it does just the opposite.
So while these gaffes by themselves are not very notable, they add up, and their impact on this nation and its relationship with other countries should concern every American.
Story cited here.
