President Joe Biden was roundly mocked for appearing to forget the names of his secretary of defense and the office where he works.
The moment: Biden on Monday announced the nomination of two female generals for promotion to four-star commands at a White House event, which commemorated International Women’s Day.
- “It’s my great honor to serve as your commander-in-chief, and I look forward to hearing your active duty and recommendations of how we can work together to keep the American people safe and meet every challenge in the 21st century,” the president said, addressing Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost and Army Lt. Gen. Laura Richardson.
- “So I want to thank you both and I want to thank the former general — I keep calling him general, my — the guy who runs that outfit over there, I want to make sure we thank the secretary for all he’s done to try to implement what we just talked about and for recommending these two women for promotion,” he added, referring to retired Gen. Lloyd Austin and the Pentagon.
The reaction: The flub drew the attention of conservative Twitter users, who raised questions about the president’s cognitive acuity.
- Some of the president’s detractors have cited his frequent verbal blunders to question the mental fitness of Biden, who at 78 is the oldest-ever sitting president.
- Criticism has intensified amid Biden’s failure to hold a press conference since his inauguration, a modern record that parallels his press-averse “bunker campaign” for the presidency last year.
- Biden, who has characterized himself as a “gaffe machine,” revealed in an interview with The Atlantic last year that he has battled a speech impediment since childhood.
