President Biden raised eyebrows Thursday when he appeared to confuse a woman with whom he took a photo for a Democrat North Carolina congresswoman who wasn’t in attendance.
“I want to mention Congresswoman Deborah Ross, where’s Deborah?” Biden asked the audience in North Carolina during a Thursday speech.
“I just had my picture taken with her, that’s probably why she left,” Biden continued, sparking a laugh from the crowd.
“Oh, she couldn’t be here, actually,” Biden continued. “That’s not true. I got it mixed up.”
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It is unclear who Biden took a picture with and who he got “mixed up.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Rep. Ross’s office for clarification but did not immediately receive a response.
Conservatives on social media quickly jumped on the comment as a troubling sign of Biden’s mental sharpness.
Biden’s remark also prompted social media users to bring up a previous gaffe in which the president appeared to forget about the death of Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski when he asked where she was on stage after her death.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters 14 times that Biden wasn’t confused about whether Walorski was alive and in the room but rather he had her “top of mind” because he would meet with her family later that week.
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Biden has been widely criticized by conservatives for his age since becoming president, including by those who have openly questioned his mental sharpness.
Seventy-six percent of voters agreed Biden is “too old” to serve a second term, compared to 48% who said the same about 77-year-old former President Trump, according to a poll late last year.
Biden has consistently held several closed-door meetings with his top donors to alleviate their concerns heading into the 2024 election, including worries about his age and energy, according to a recent report.
The White House has sternly defended Biden’s mental acuity on multiple occasions, including in November when Jean-Pierre said she “would put the president’s stamina, the president’s wisdom, ability to get this done on behalf of the American people against anyone, anyone on any day of the week.”
