(DCWatchdog.com) – Even though Joe Biden has been overshadowed by his veep Kamala Harris since she became the Democrat presidential nominee, the president has just reminded the nation of his true self with a new speech gaffe.
Biden admitted on Thursday that there is “a hell of a lot more work to do” in managing inflation and improving the economy.
This acknowledgment came during a speech that included several errors, including a false statement about not having met with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
“Inflation was 9.1% [in June 2022]. The United States today is much closer to 2%. It doesn’t mean our work is done — far from it,” Biden stated at the Economic Club of Washington.
“No one should confuse why I’m here. I’m not here to take a victory lap. I’m not here to say the job well done. I’m not here to say we don’t have a hell of a lot more work to do,” he added cited by The New York Post.
Biden’s remarks were made the day after the Federal Reserve decided to reduce interest rates by half a percent, following a decline in the annual inflation rate to 2.5% in August.
“I’ve never once spoken to the chairman of the Fed since I became president,” Biden then claimed incorrectly.
In reality, Biden and Powell had met in May 2022 in the Oval Office, an encounter that was documented by the White House press pool.
Biden’s economic advisor, Jared Bernstein, attempted to clarify his boss’s mistake by asserting, “the president was saying that he has not spoken to chair Powell about interest rates.”
Biden’s speech, introduced by Economic Club chairman David Rubenstein—who has loaned Biden his Nantucket home for Thanksgiving annually—also included other misstatements.
Biden erroneously referred to discussions in South Korea about computer chip manufacturing with “President Ku-shi” before correcting himself to “President Hu,” despite there being no South Korean president by that name.
He likely confused South Korea’s current president, Yoon Suk Yeol, with China’s former president, Hu Jintao.
Additionally, Biden mistakenly called Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) “Congressman Carper,” although it is customary to address U.S. politicians by their highest-held office.
Carper has not served in the House since 1993 and has since been Delaware’s governor and a U.S. senator.
These errors are reminiscent of other moments when Biden appeared to be confused, such as earlier this year when he referred to the French president as Francois Mitterrand and the German chancellor as Helmut Kohl, despite both having left office decades ago.
These gaffes coincided with Biden’s decision in July to not seek a second term, following concerns from his Democratic colleagues about his potential cognitive decline.
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