President Biden surprised listeners Wednesday by boasting about his ability to launch nuclear weapons, before calling Donald Trump a “congressman” and appearing to forget the names of the current Chinese and South Korean leaders.
“Look, my Marine wears that, but he has the code to blow up the world,” the 81-year-old commander in chief said as he introduced himself to factory workers in Colorado.
“These aren’t nuclear weapons, are they?” Biden added while touring the facilities of South Korean company CS Wind in Pueblo, touted by the White House as the world’s largest manufacturer of wind towers.
Moments later, Biden slipped up during a 23-minute speech as polls show a large majority of voters are concerned about his mental acuity as he seeks re-election.
“I’m friends with your leader, Mr. Moon, you know,” Biden told the corporate leaders, apparently referring to former South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who leaves office in 2022.
Current South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has interacted with Biden at many events and was even honored by Biden in April at his second state dinner since taking office.
President Biden made the joke while touring a manufacturing plant in Pueblo, Colorado, November 29, 2023. REUTERS A military aide carries “the soccer ball,” which contains nuclear launch codes, before boarding Marine One behind of President Joe Biden. AP
The gaffes continued as the president invoked Trump in what the White House had billed as a planned attack on Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) for opposing Biden-backed economic bills.
“We can use [a billionaire minimum tax] “Strengthen Social Security and Medicare instead of cutting them like Congressman Trump and Boebert want to do,” Biden said.
Trump, 77, opposed efforts by some fellow Republicans to alter Social Security during his presidency and is the GOP favorite to face Biden again in next year’s election.
In another potential stumble, Biden recalled what he said was a conversation with the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, who died in 1997 and is best known for liberalizing China’s economy to introduce elements of capitalism in the late 1970s and 1980s.
“I said this to Deng Xiaoping in the Himalayas and I have said this to every world leader: It has never, ever, ever been a good bet to bet against the American people,” the president said.
The story resembled an oft-told Biden anecdote about what he claimed was a conversation with current Chinese President Xi Jinping during their respective vice presidencies.
At another point in his speech, Biden claimed to have “cut the federal deficit by more than $7 billion,” probably a mistake in making his most frequent claim of having reduced the deficit by $1.7 trillion, which in a moment was true, but only when taking into account a problem in COVID-19 and stimulus spending.
The 81-year-old commander in chief raised eyebrows Wednesday when he blurted out, “My Marine wears that and has the code to blow up the world” after introducing himself to factory workers in Colorado. AFP via Getty Images It is estimated that the United States has around 4,000 nuclear weapons. AFP/Getty Images
The national debt currently exceeds $33.8 trillion (more than $6 trillion more since Biden took office) and fiscal year 2023, which ended September 30, recorded the highest non-pandemic deficit in history of the United States with 1.7 trillion dollars.
Biden’s joke about nuclear football went viral on social media Wednesday along with his series of gaffes at the same stop.
Presidents are famously accompanied during their trips by a military aide who carries a briefcase with items that can be used to authorize a nuclear attack, including a card containing authentication codes.
Although Biden’s defenders argue that he is simply error-prone, his Democratic colleagues have expressed alarm over his recent public gaffes.
US President Joe Biden arrives to deliver a speech on his “Bidenomics” economic plan at CS Wind, the world’s largest wind tower manufacturer, in Pueblo, Colorado, on November 29, 2023. AFP via Getty Images Joe Biden speaks about Bidenomics at CS Wind on November 29, 2023 in Pueblo, Colorado. fake images
David Axelrod, President Barack Obama’s former chief campaign strategist, said this month that “in front of the camera, what he’s projecting is causing people concern, and that’s concerning.”
A New York Times poll published Nov. 7 found that 71% of swing state voters say Biden is “too old to be an effective president,” while only 39% said the same about Trump.
A Wall Street Journal poll published in September found that 73% of registered voters believed Biden was too old, compared to 47% who said the same about Trump.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn