THIS is the awkward moment 81-year-old Joe Biden snaps “who’s next?” at staffers before introducing the Indian Prime Minister in his latest on-stage gaffe.
The president was ending his introductory speech about the ‘Quad’s’ efforts to beat cancer before concluding “and now, who am I introducing next?”
An awkward silence followed Biden’s question, before he demanded from staff “who’s next?”
Heads can be seen turning in the audience as they appear to share the confusion with Biden.
An aide could then be seen gesturing a hand towards the stage before a compere introduced Indian PM Narendra Modi.
In an attempt to presumably diffuse the uncomfortable blunder, Biden appears to relax before making a joke and affectionately putting his arm around Modi.
Despite Biden’s age-related gaffe’s becoming fairly common, Saturday’s summit blunder appeared to be a result of logistical error.
The event was intended to advance Biden’s “cancer moonshot” which will see the US working with the other three regions in the Quad – Australia, India and Japan– to try and beat the disease.
In attendance also were Australian PM Anthony Albanese and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida.
The Quad began in 2007 initially to try and counteract China’s rising power in the Indo-Pacific region.
When the next meeting takes place, whoever wins November’s presidential election will have a seat at the table – Kamala Harris or Donald Trump.
Harris V Trump
For Harris, the debate was the first time voters saw her in action on a national platform since taking over the Democratic ticket after Biden’s withdrawal.
The vice president attempted to introduce herself and gave a glimpse of what a Harris White House could look like should she win the election.
She touched upon various policy points including the economy, abortion, and the border, while attempting to distinguish herself from the current president.
However, Trump tied Harris’ name to the Biden administration’s failed policies.
He slammed her in his closing remarks, asking why she hadn’t done any of the things she mentioned during the debate.
Trump also lashed out at Harris’ work alongside Biden, saying they led to America being “laughed at all over the world.”
Meanwhile, the former president, 78, told Good Morning New Hampshire he’s been preparing “all his life for this debate.”
“So, you know, I do. I have meetings on it. We talk about it, but there’s not a lot you can do,” Trump said.
Nine gaffes in one speech
Even by Biden’s standards, making nine blunders in one speech is exceptionally bad.
His team at the White House were forced to correct the errors in an official transcript, crossing out words and replacing them.
One of the most cringeworthy occurred at the beginning of his speech, at the Detroit branch of the NAACP in May, where he received a lifetime achievement award.
While recounting a story about President Barack Obama, who served from January 2009 until January 2017, he claimed to have been sent to the Michigan city during the “pandemic”.
Biden confused the timeline by up to a decade and in a correction, it was changed to the “recession“, which spanned December 2007 until June 2009.
Then, while slamming Trump for the Capitol riots, the POTUS said: “He calls the irrectionists who stormed Capitol Hill ‘patriots’. He says if elected, he wants, quote, ‘every’ one of them pardoned.”
“Irrectionists”, which isn’t a word, was corrected to “insurrectionists”. The White House also corrected his use of the word “bloodshed” for “bloodbath”, in reference to Trump winning the election.
Other errors included Biden saying he was “humbled to receive this organisation” instead of “award”, using the non-existent word “inspiresing” instead of “inspiring” and citing a figure of $8,000 rather than $800.
Another humiliating gaffe was his calling the NAACP, where he was giving the speech and was honoured with an award, the “NAAC”.
Donald Trump's 2024 blunders
WHILE Joe Biden has faced a lot of flack, his Presidency rival Donal Trump has endured his fair share of gaffes this year too...
May
- Trump wrongly referenced “Jimmy Connors” instead of President Jimmy Carter during a campaign speech in New Jersey.
- Bizarrely commemorated ‘the late, great Hannibal Lecter’ – a fictional cannibal – while talking about undocumented immigrants.
- Wrongly said of his son Barron, who turned 18 two months earlier: “He’s pretty young, I will say, he’s 17.”
- Appeared to fall asleep with his mouth open just minutes into the cross-examination of Michael Cohen during his hush money trial.
March
- Referred to either the head of the New York Stock Exchange or Trump Media and Technology Group as a man, when both are women. Trump said in a speech: “He said, ‘I’m losing business because of New York.'”
- Bizarrely said “Joe Biden won against Barack Hussein Obama… every swing state, Biden beat Obama but in every other state, he got killed.” Commentators were unclear what Trump meant. This was reportedly the eighth gaffe where Trump confused Obama in recent months.
- Claimed “the polls are rigged” during a speech in Georgia, before saying: “Disregard that last statement, I love the polls so much.”
February
- In a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, he bizarrely referred to Putin saying Biden was “more experienced” than Trump as a “great compliment”.
- Appeared to forget his wife Melania’s name while introducing her to the stage. After applause from the crowd, he said: “Mercedes, that’s pretty good!”
January
- Confused former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with his one remaining Republican rival for to represent the party. He said: “Nikki Haley was in charge of security” – instead of Pelosi, while trying to criticise her.
‘Freeze’ concerns
Politicians are regularly compared to robots for delivering a lack of emotion and empathy in speeches but last month, Biden appeared to have short-circuited.
During the White House’s early celebration for Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the US, he froze for at least 30 seconds.
The odd clip showed Biden standing still and staring blankly, while others around him, including Harris, danced and clapped along to a gospel performance, before moving his head.
Social media users mocked the President online, with one writing: “Lights are on but no one’s home.” Another added: “Oh no, they forgot to plug him in last night.”
One doctor told the Daily Mail that freezing can be a sign of Parkinson’s disease. Biden’s team has rubbished claims regarding the President having an underlying health condition.
They explained the video as Biden “taking in an applauding crowd for a few seconds”.
Identified as ‘black woman’
Questions surrounded Biden’s mental capacity after a series of stumbles and pauses as he struggled to keep track of conversation during June 27’s TV debate with Trump.
Insiders closed to the POTUS blamed the blunders on him fighting off a cold – but days later, he bizarrely referred to himself as a “black woman”.
In a radio interview, Biden said: “By the way, I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first black woman… to serve with a black president.”
It’s believed he meant to refer to Harris being the first black woman to serve as a vice president in the US.
