President Biden on Sunday appeared to mix up French President Emmanuel Macron with François Mitterrand, the former president of France who died in 1996.
The apparent mix-up took place during a Sunday campaign event in Las Vegas, in which Biden recounted a Group of 7 (G7) meeting he attended after being elected in 2020.
Biden said one of the first things he said during the meeting was “America is back,” which he said prompted a response from “Mitterrand from Germany,” before correcting it to “from France.”
“And Mitterand from Germany — I mean, from France — looked at me and said … ‘You know, what — why, how long you back for?” Biden said. “And I looked at him, and … the chancellor of Germany said, ‘What would you say, Mr. President, if you picked up the paper tomorrow in the London Times, and London Times said, “A thousand people break through the House of Commons, break down the doors, two Bobbies are killed in order to stop the election of the prime minister.” What would you say?'”
The White House later posted the remarks, with the name Mitterand crossed out and replaced with Macron.
Biden’s remarks continued with criticism of former President Trump and his recent “poisoning the blood” comments he used to describe the effects of immigrants coming into the United States.
The Hill reached out to the White House for further comment.
Biden has faced continued scrutiny for his age and ability to carry out a second term since the start of his presidency in 2021. Several of his political opponents and some voters have used Biden’s apparent mix-ups and gaffes to further fuel their argument as to why he is too old or unfit to be president.
At 81, Biden is the oldest sitting U.S. president. If reelected this November, he would be 87 at the end of his second term.
Biden’s political rival, Trump, 77, faced similar criticism last month after he appeared to mix-up his main GOP challenger, Nikki Haley, with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) while discussing the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.
Biden later mocked Trump for the gaffe, writing on X, formerly known as Twitter: “I don’t agree with Nikki Haley on everything, but we agree on this much: She is not Nancy Pelosi.” The post attached a campaign ad knocking Trump for the mix-up and highlighted concerns about his mental fitness.