Amid age-related concern relating to US President Joe Biden’s competency, the current president and presidential hopeful baffled his words and mistakenly described himself as a proud “black woman” while speaking to Philadelphia station WURD on Thursday according to international media reports and recordings of the incident.
Biden had announced “By the way, I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice-president, first black woman… to serve with a black president,” seemingly confusing his own biography with that of Kamala Harris’s.
Harris, who is Biden’s vice president is the first African-American and first woman to hold the role.
Biden’s mistake is one of a series of fumbles as of late. Earlier on Thursday, Biden was speaking to military families on the White House lawn when he stumbled and referred to his competitor, former US president Donald Trump, as “one of our colleagues.”
Concerns were also raised after Biden’s performance in his first presidential debate against Trump, where he himself admitted after the debate that he did not speak as “smoothly” as he used to, according to the Telegraph.
What’s really going on?
Biden’s support plummeted after the debate, according to public opinion polls and international media started commenting if potential cognitive conditions like dementia could be plaguing Biden. While Maariv journalist Dr. Itay Gal ruled that dementia was unlikely, he did state that the president was likely experiencing a cognitive decline consistent with his advanced age of 81 years.
Despite fallout from the debate, the White House continued to deny any assertions that Biden may lack the mental capacity to serve another term.
“I have engagement with the president pretty regularly,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, addressing reporters on the subject of the debate. “What I see is a strong, resolute president who is always willing and able to work on behalf of the American people.”
In a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in September, 77% of respondents said they agreed with a statement that Biden was too old to work in government, while 56% said the same of Trump.
In February, a Department of Justice counsel blew the whistle that the president was struggling with memory problems.
The issue of mental competency has become a major topic in this year’s presidential campaign. Biden and Trump, 77, are the two oldest men respectively to have been elected president.
Reuters contributed to this report.