Washington: In his latest alarming gaffe, US President Joe Biden was seen in a recent video struggling to remember the name of Palestine-based militant group Hamas, when asked about the discussions between the group and Israel over the captured hostages amid the ongoing war in Gaza, going so far as to call it an "opposition movement" during a stumbling speech.
After delivering an address urging Republicans to back a bipartisan immigration and border deal that would provide funding for Ukraine and Israel on Tuesday, the 81-year-old President was asked about an update about the hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas, reported the Telegraph. "There is some movement, and I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna…," he said before pausing and staring blankly ahead.
"Let me choose my words — there’s some movement, there’s been … a response from the...There’s been a response … from … the opposition, but, um," Biden continued until a reporter suggested that the word he was searching for was 'Hamas'. “Yes, I’m sorry, from Hamas. But it seems to be a little over the top. We’re not sure where it is. There’s a continuing negotiation right now,” Biden continued.
Democrat Representative Dean Philips, who is challenging Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination, shared the footage on X. "I admire our President. I voted for him and campaigned for him. He has visited my home and been gracious to my family and our country. But shame on all of you pretending everything is ok. You are leading us - and him - into a disaster, and you damn well know it," he said.
It is worth mentioning this was not the first time when the incumbent US President made a blunder while addressing the public. Ever since assuming office in 2020, President Biden made several gaffe which went viral on social media platforms. Voters from both parties have told pollsters they are concerned about the age of Biden, who will be 86 if he is reelected and serves a second term.
Biden's gaffe about former French President
Recently, Biden stunned the world when he claimed he met a French president who had died around three decades ago. While addressing a crowd in Las Vegas on Sunday, Biden, who turned 81 last November, erroneously reminisced about his recent conversation with former French president Francois Mitterrand who died in January 1996. According to Biden, he had met Mitterrand during a 2021 meeting with world leaders.
"You know, right — right after I was elected, I went to what they call a G7 meeting, all the NATO leaders. And it was in — it was in the south of England. And I sat down and I said, “America is back", read the transcript of Biden's speech released by the White House.
"And Mitterrand [Macron], from Germany — I mean, from France looked at me and said — said, “You know, what — why — how long you back for?” (Laughter.) And I looked at him, and the — and the Chancellor of Germany said, “What would you say, Mr President, if you picked up the paper tomorrow in the London Times, and London Times said, ‘A thousand people break through the House of Commons, break down the doors, two Bobbies are killed in order to stop the election of the Prime Minister.’ What would you say?” he added.
Earlier last year, he claimed 100 people, instead of 1 million, died in the COVID-19 pandemic, which left behind "8 million people who were close to them. In June last year, he accidentally said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was clearly losing the war in "Iraq" instead of Ukraine. His remarks had come less than 24 hours after he said "China" instead of "India" while referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a recent survey, some 59 per cent of US voters believe that US President Joe Biden is getting increasingly less mentally sharp as he is set to run for reelection in November, Sputnik reported quoting Rasmussen. One-third of respondents, or 33 per cent, disagreed with the majority about Biden’s mental health, but most suspect the mass media are covering up the president’s cognitive decline, Rasmussen Reports said in a press release accompanying the poll.
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