Wisconsin: In another one of his embarrassing blunders, US President Joe Biden, while addressing an event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Wednesday, said the US has among the "lowest inflation rates of any country in America" while defending his economic policies. These remarks come at a time when Biden's bid for another presidency is beset by concerns over his old age and mental acuity.
"Wages are rising faster than prices and now we have among the lowest inflation rates of any country in America, and still we are fighting to lower it even further," Biden said in his address, while touting $36 million for rebuilding projects in Milwaukee. Biden's event on Wednesday comes after he clinched the Democratic Party's nomination.
Biden, 81, the oldest US President, is set to face his predecessor and Republican rival Donald Trump in a re-match of the 2020 election on November 5, 2024. Biden, whose mental health and old age have been under scrutiny lately, has sparked concerns that he is not fit to run for another term as the presidential elections approach.
The president's health was in the news earlier this year after a special counsel investigating Biden for improperly storing classified documents suggested he was suffering from mental decline due to his age. The 345-page report described him as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory". "My memory is fine," Biden said while reacting sharply to the report last month.
'What month did Beau die?': Biden
Although there have been concerns about the old age and mental health of both candidates, such discussions have intensified more on Biden due to his repeated gaffes, forgetting the names of world leaders and locations. obert Hur, who had been appointed to investigate whether Biden mishandled classified documents, wrote that the president couldn’t recall in an interview with prosecutors the date when his adult son, Beau, died of cancer.
It was a shocking contention about a keystone event in Biden’s life, and it fed into questions about whether the 81-year-old president is fit to serve another term. “How in the hell dare he raise that?” Biden angrily declared during a hastily arranged press conference after the report was released.
The transcript released on Tuesday sheds new light on one of the most politically and personally sensitive episodes in Biden’s term. Although the special counsel’s investigation found no basis to bring criminal charges against Biden — unlike Donald Trump, who was indicted for refusing to return classified records to the federal government — the references to his memory threatened the president’s ability to assure voters that he can keep doing his job until he turns 86.
Biden's other gaffes
Many have argued that Biden, who will be 82 weeks after this year's presidential elections, is unable to perform the duties of his job and is not fit to run for another term. Some politicians have even called on Vice President Kamala Harris to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Biden from office.
The 81-year-old president has raised concerns after a series of verbal mixups, at times confusing the names of world leaders during his tenure at the White House. A majority of Americans in most polls believe the president is too old to run for re-election. He recently confused Gaza with Ukraine while announcing essential airdrops in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
Prior to that, Biden stunned the world when he claimed he met a French president who had died around three decades ago. However, he turned the tables on his rival Trump when asked about the claims that he is too old to run for a second term, saying that "he's about as old as I am".
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