Being one of the best presidents of the United States in recent memory sadly does not make someone immune to the occasional awkward situation. Joe Biden has done a lot to move his country away from what Trump was doing and back to the position of being the world’s number one superpower—economically and politically. But we have to remain neutral, which means we have to come to terms with the fact that the man isn’t perfect either.
Joe Biden is the oldest US president in history, which leaves a lot of people questioning his mental and physical health, especially considering how important his office is. And since we all know about Trump’s verbal slip-ups, it only seems fair that we take a look at some of Biden’s too.
“Stand up, Chuck!”
While we can only applaud someone who asks a senator to stand up and take the spotlight for a while, vice presidential nominee Joe Biden did just that with Chuck Graham. Sadly, Chuck had been unable to stand up ever since he was a teenager due to paralysis. Graham didn’t mind at all, he claimed that after more than a decade in politics, people forgot he was a wheelchair user all the time.
“Poor Kids Are Just as Bright as White Kids”
I can already hear your “oof” just by reading the quote above. Back in 2019, Joe Biden let this quote fly in Iowa before realizing his mistake and quickly adding, “Wealthy kids. Black kids. Asian kids.” Quick reflexes for an old man! If he hadn’t saved himself there, his campaign would have been completely Joever.
Sleepy Joe
In all fairness, there is a reason why Trump calls him Sleepy Joe occasionally, and Biden was in fact caught sleeping during a COP26 meeting back in 2021. Then again, he was a severely jetlagged 78-year-old man, listening to politicians talk about the environment as they all arrived in their private airplanes because somehow the first point on the agenda wasn’t “let’s do these things over the internet, guys.”
The President of the UK
Another awkward moment between heads of state is when one forgets what the other’s official title is—or even what type of country he’s visiting politically. The UK is probably one of the most known monarchies in the world, so when Biden called Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “Mr. President,” it was surely a bit of an awkward moment. Biden recovered pretty quickly from his mistake, but the internet is forever.
Forgot to Sign the Executive Order
This is a mishap both Biden and Trump have in common, actually. While Biden forgot to sign an executive order, joked about it, and immediately turned back to sign it anyway, Trump just left the room without questioning his actions when put in a similar position. I think I’d rather have the President sign the documents, to be honest.
Forgetting The Last Country He Visited
Granted, this was a bit of a low-hanging fruit situation, but when a kid back in 2023 asked Biden what the last country he visited was, the President was completely at a loss. Another child visiting the White House had to remind him of it, but Biden had already visited about 90 countries on official business, making it plausible that he lost track at some point.