Biden claims he was vice president 'during the pandemic' in latest gaffe

Publish date: 2024-08-21

DETROIT (TND) — President Joe Biden appeared to blunder once again while addressing attendees at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's (NAACP) Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner in Detroit Sunday.

The 81-year-old president suggested to the audience he was vice president “during the pandemic." The COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020 under former President Donald Trump, and Biden, campaigning for president at the time, had not served as vice president since 2016.

When I was vice president, things were kinda bad during the pandemic,” Biden told the audience. “And what happened was Barack said to me ‘go to Detroit and help fix it.’”

A scathing report by former special counsel Robert Hur in February accused Biden of forgetting major events, such as the day his son Beau died. Transcripts from the interview also reportedly indicated Biden had forgotten his tenure under former President Barack Obama, asking “when did I stop being vice president?,” according to Forbes.

Biden recently exercised executive privilege over audio from the Hur interview, a doctrine which allows the president to withhold information from other branches of the government.

READ MORE | Biden declares 'we can't be trusted,' mistakenly credits Trump during Florida speech

Sunday's slip-up adds to an increasingly lengthy string of gaffes by Biden. In April, the president appeared to confuse the Jan. 6 Capitol riots with D-Day when reminding a crowd not to “forget the dark days of June 6."

"January 6th, excuse me," he corrected.

Earlier that month, Biden also appeared to read speaking instructions from a teleprompter while delivering remarks.

“I see an economy that grows a lot in the bottom up where the wealthy pay their fair share, so we can have childcare, paid leave and so much more, and still reduce the federal deficit and increase economic growth,” the president said.

“Imagine what we could do next,” he added. “Four more years, pause."

Follow Jackson Walker on X at @_jlwalker_ for the latest trending national news. Have a news tip? Send it to jacwalker@sbgtv.com.

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