President Biden made several notable gaffes and misstatements during the official White House Fourth of July celebration, occasionally appearing confused. His greeting to the crowd with a hearty “Ho ho ho! Happy Independence Day!” puzzled many.
Accompanied by First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Biden began with a short statement. Despite appearing more energetic than during his June 27 debate, his remarks remained disjointed.
“We gotta do what our founders did: show the world we’re a nation of dignity, honor, and just devotion to one another,” Biden said, before encouraging the audience to enjoy the fireworks.
As Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” played, the group exited the stage. Biden, trailing behind, paused mid-step, unsure of whom to hand the microphone to, before eventually giving it to a stagehand and descending the stairs to mingle with the crowd.
Earlier in the day, at a White House barbeque, Biden struggled through a brief speech, bizarrely claiming that highway congestion no longer exists and nearly referring to Donald Trump as his “colleague.”
“I probably shouldn’t even say that … anyway,” Biden remarked to military service members and their families. Despite using a teleprompter, he trailed off multiple times during his four-minute speech.
Focusing on his recent visit to Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Biden honored the “heroes” who sacrificed for democracy. He compared World War I to the current presidential race, questioning if Americans would make the same sacrifices, before awkwardly attempting and abandoning a dig at Trump.
“By the way, I was in that World War I cemetery in France, and one that my colleagues, the former president, didn’t want to go and be up there,” he said, before admitting he shouldn’t have made the comment. He also strangely claimed to be “in and out of battle” on the trip, abruptly cutting off the statement.
Biden concluded his speech to applause but then grabbed the microphone again to claim traffic is no longer an issue, a statement at odds with reality.
“One last thing, and I used to think when I was a senator, there was always congestion on the highways. There’s no congestion anymore. We go on the highway, there’s no congestion,” Biden said. “And so what? The way they get me to stop talking, they’ll say, ‘We just shut down all the roads, Mr. President, you’re gonna lose all the votes if you don’t get in. But anyway, I’ll be back out,” he added nonsensically.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment regarding Biden’s remarks.
The speech comes amid rumors that establishment Democrats are considering replacing the aging president. Former Obama adviser Van Jones said the party is in “full-scale panic” following Biden’s highly criticized debate performance against Trump last week, which included several gaffes and a moment where he appeared to freeze.