US President Joe Biden once again was seen involved in a gaffe, this time during a press interaction where he called his Republican rival Donald Trump “Vice President Trump” and further went on to describe him as a “she”, while talking about VP Kamala Harris. The latest in the series of gaffes lately comes while answering a question during the briefing. He, however, acknowledged amid calls for him to step down from the presidential race, that Harris was "qualified to be president".
“How are you incorporating these developments into your decision to stay and separately what concerns do you have about Vice President Harris's ability to beat Donald Trump if she were at the top of the ticket,” a reporter asked Biden, to which he responded, “Wouldn’t have picked vice-president Trump to be vice-president if I didn’t think she was not qualified to be president”.
“From the very beginning, I made no bones about that. She is qualified to be the president. That's why I picked her,” he said.
When asked about the reasons for this, he said “Firstly because of the way she's handled the issue of freedom of women's bodies, to have control of their bodies and secondly, her ability to handle almost any issue on the board.” This was a hell of a prosecutor. She was a first rate person and in the Senate, she was really good. I wouldn't have picked her unless I thought she was qualified to be the president,” Biden said.
Biden’s latest gaffes
Last week, addressing a rally at Wisconsin on Friday, Biden said he will defeat Trump "again in 2020" presidential race.
Last month in Italy, the US president was there for the G7 Summit where he was seen awkwardly saluting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and was later seen wandering off while other world leaders were engrossed in a parachute display.
Donald Trump mocks Biden
Former US President Donald Trump Biden “should have to take a cognitive test," only to confuse who administered the test to him in the next sentence.
"He doesn't even know what the word inflation' means. I think he should take a cognitive test like I did," the former president earlier said of Biden during a speech at a convention of Turning Point Action in Detroit.
Biden faces trouble within Democrats
As the elections are nearing in the US, incumbent Biden is facing voices against him by the day, asking him to step aside and make way for Kamala Harris for the presidential polls. According to some polls, Harris might have a better chance at beating Trump than Biden has.
Biden is under pressure from some Democrats to step aside and open a path for his 59-year-old vice president, Kamala Harris. Some public opinion polls have shown Trump widening a lead over the Democratic president since the debate, while a Reuters/Ipsos poll found one in three Democrats want Biden to quit the race.
Harris is the top alternative to replace US President Joe Biden if he decides not to continue his reelection campaign, according to seven senior sources at the Biden campaign, the White House and the Democratic National Committee with knowledge of current discussions on the topic. A CNN poll found Harris within striking distance of Trump in a hypothetical matchup: 47 per cent of registered voters support Trump, 45 per cent support Harris, a result within the margin of error that suggests there is no clear leader under such a scenario.
Biden's halting performance at his debate with Trump on June 27 raised serious concerns among some Democrats about his mental acuity and stamina at age 81. There is a movement afoot in the party to persuade him to step aside, with critics warning he faces near-certain defeat and could drag other Democrats down with him. House Democrats and a group of senators are expected to convene on the topic when they return to Washington next week.
(With inputs from agencies)
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