During a press briefing on Thursday, February 8, President Biden vehemently dismissed a special counsel’s findings that questioned his memory, particularly citing an incident where he mistakenly interchanged the leaders of Egypt and Mexico.
Biden strongly objected to the conclusions drawn by special counsel Robert Hur, who portrayed him as a well-intentioned elderly individual grappling with memory lapses.
Right on schedule, following his assertion of having a good memory, Biden committed a mistake while addressing the humanitarian situation in Gaza, mistakenly referring to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as the president of Mexico. During the conversation about Gaza, he mentioned that President Sisi of Mexico initially hesitated to permit humanitarian aid into the country, but after engaging in dialogue, Biden managed to convince him to grant access.
A video capturing the statement quickly circulated on social media, with Republicans seizing upon it to argue that Biden’s cognitive abilities have declined. However, Biden’s supporters contend that critics and journalists overlooked his delivery of impassioned and logical remarks. They assert that Biden’s allies sought to redirect focus away from the mistake and onto other aspects of his remarks.
During a fundraising event in New York on Wednesday, Biden recounted an anecdote about his initial attendance at a Group of Seven (G7) summit shortly after assuming the presidency in 2020. He recalled declaring “America’s back” at the summit. However, he mistakenly mentioned the presence of former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who held office from 1982 to 1988 and passed away in 2017, while Angela Merkel was actually serving as chancellor of Germany at that time.
Biden had previously made the same error twice before. The first instance occurred at a campaign event in Nevada on Sunday when recounting the same story about his G7 encounter with world leaders. However, on that occasion, Biden misspoke by identifying François Mitterrand as the president of France instead of Emmanuel Macron.
Following his tenure from 1981 to 1995, Mitterrand concluded his presidency in 1996. Macron assumed office in 2017. If you inquire with 76 percent of voters, including 54% of Democrats, about whether 81-year-old Joe Biden possesses the mental and physical capabilities to serve a second term as president, they will express significant or moderate apprehensions.
