Joe Biden defends memory, calls Egyptian leader ‘president of Mexico’

Article content

How dare anyone raise questions about his mental sharpness, Joe Biden opined during an impromptu White House news conference on Thursday night.

Article content

And then, as if to underscore why he was there in the first place, the U.S. president confused the leaders of Mexico and Egypt.

Article content

Article content

“I think as you know initially, the president of Mexico, (Abdel Fattah) el-Sisi, did not want to open up the gate to humanitarian material to get in. I talked to him. I convinced him to open the gate,” Biden said while fielding a question about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, referring to the Egyptian president.

It was the latest in a long list of blunders to haunt the president, causing voters and politicians alike to question his ability to lead.

Article content

Article content

On Thursday night, Biden rebutted a special counsel report that offered a harsh assessment of his memory and recall abilities. He pushed back against conclusions from special counsel Robert Hur that the president presented during an interview with investigators as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

Said Biden sarcastically: “My memory’s fine. Take a look at what I’ve done since I became president … how did that happen? I guess I just forgot what was going on,” Biden said.

And then he promptly went off the rails with his Mexico mix-up.

Biden also pushed back on the special counsel’s claim that he disclosed classified information and then grew emotional when it was suggested he had forgotten when his son had died from cancer.

Article content

Article content

“How the hell dare he raise that,” Biden said. “I don’t need anyone to remind me of when he passed away.”

The report by the Justice Department said investigators working for Hur found Biden had knowingly stored and disclosed classified information that was kept at his homes in Virginia and Delaware, but stopped short of charging him with any crimes.

Biden, 81, was described as also forgetting when his term as vice-president ended and details of critical foreign policy debates during the Barack Obama administration.

“My memory is fine,” Biden said. “I’m the most qualified person in this country to be president of the United States and finish the job I started.”

Article content

Yet his latest public screw-up had many on social media suggesting otherwise.

“(Vladimir) Putin just spent 28+ minutes going through 100s of years of Eastern European history without a single note on him,” one X user posted in reference to the Russian president’s interview with Tucker Carlson. “Biden has no clue what he ate for lunch. Utterly terrifying.”

Article content

Another X user and political commentator posted: “Dear President (Donald) Trump. Congratulations, sir! You just locked up the Presidency after Joe Biden’s incoherent press conference tonight.”

The latest gaffe came on the heels of Biden confusing European leaders with their long-dead counterparts.

Biden is seeking a second term. Voters have said his age ranks as one of their biggest concerns ahead of a likely rematch with former president Trump, 77, in November.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

Article content