In a surprising speech delivered early on Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden asserted that he "does not suffer from memory problems despite his old age," following a report that described him as "an elderly man with a weak memory." Biden, speaking angrily before journalists at the White House, stated, "Well, I'm an old man and I know what I'm doing. I do not have memory issues."
This statement came shortly after a special prosecutor's report, which highlighted that Biden allegedly forgot the date of his son Beau Biden's death. Following his anger over being labeled an "elderly man with a weak memory," Biden made another gaffe regarding the war in Gaza. He mistakenly referred to "Mexican President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi" (instead of Egyptian President) and mentioned that he initially did not want to open the crossing to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, but he spoke with him and convinced him otherwise.
Earlier, Biden also confused a European leader with her deceased predecessor for the second time in a week during an election event, when he said he met German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who died in 2017, instead of Angela Merkel. Biden's mistake at the age of 81 came days after he claimed to have spoken to late French President François Mitterrand instead of the current president Emmanuel Macron, while discussing the G7 summit that took place in June 2021.
Without directly stating that Biden was wrong, his spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre pointed out examples of other American figures who also confused names. She said in her daily press conference, "Many people, including members of Congress, can make mistakes sometimes. It happens."
As Biden seeks re-election for a second term in November, he often recounts the same story about the summit held in Britain to highlight what he terms global concerns about the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump. According to a news report, Biden recalled how Helmut Kohl from Germany said to him, “What would you say, Mr. President, if the London Times reported tomorrow that a thousand people smashed the doors... of the British Parliament and killed some (people) on their way inside to prevent the Prime Minister from taking office?”
Angela Merkel, the former German chancellor, was the leader present at the summit, while Kohl, known for being the architect of Germany's reunification after the Cold War, died in 2017 after serving as chancellor for 16 years from 1982 to 1998.
Biden's gaffe is the second he has made in just a few days; last Sunday in Las Vegas, during another election event, he relayed French President Macron's reaction during the same G7 summit to his victory over Trump in the 2020 elections. Biden said, “Mitterrand from Germany... I mean from France, looked at me and said: You know, what... why... how long will you come back?”
Mitterrand served as President of France from 1981 to 1995 and passed away in 1996. Polls show that American voters are increasingly worried about Biden's age, as he will be 82 at the start of a potential second term and 86 at its end. Voters appear less concerned about Trump’s age of 77, who is also running for another presidential term but has made some errors as well, like confusing his Republican rival Nikki Haley with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Last year, Trump mistakenly referred to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as Turkey’s leader and warned that the U.S. was on the brink of entering World War II, which ended in 1945.
