President Joe Biden missed a chance to demonstrate his attentiveness in his inaugural address to the nation following the critical special counsel report that depicted him as an elderly and forgetful individual. During an impromptu speech at the White House on Thursday evening, Biden once again stumbled by mistakenly identifying Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as “the president of Mexico.”
“I think that, uh,” Biden said before a long pause, continuing, “as you know, initially, the president of Mexico, Sisi, did not wanna open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in. I talked to him. I convinced him to open the gate.”
President Joe Biden missed an opportunity to demonstrate his alertness and competence during his first address to the nation. His untimely mistake, which occurred when he returned to the podium after initially concluding the press conference, adds to a recent pattern of confusing world leaders.
This year, Biden has recounted conversations with foreign leaders who passed away many years ago, some as far back as 1996.
The address was a crucial moment for Biden to showcase his mental capabilities as the President of the United States of America, especially after the release of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report earlier on Thursday, which described the president as “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
Hur and his team extensively interviewed the president last autumn, and their report highlighted alarming instances of Biden’s significantly impaired memory. This report further reinforced the perception of Biden as an elderly man with declining mental faculties.
In a hastily arranged address from the White House on Thursday night, Biden once again confused a world leader, mistakenly referring to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as the president of Mexico.
The report says Biden “did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died.” He also failed to remember his time as vice president:
“In his interview with our office … He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (“if it was 2013, when did I stop being Vice President?”), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (“in 2009, am I still Vice President?”).”
Prior to the recent setback experienced by Joe Biden, there were already doubts among Americans regarding his mental capabilities. A recent NBC poll, conducted prior to the release of the surprising special prosecutor report, revealed that 76 percent of voters expressed either significant or moderate concerns about Biden’s mental and physical fitness to serve a second term as president. Furthermore, 62 percent of voters in the poll indicated having “major concerns” specifically about his mental and physical health.
