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Joe Biden apologized to the family of late Indiana Representative Jackie Walorski in the Oval Office on Friday when they met with the president just days after he apparently forgot the congressman was dead.
The late Representative’s mother, Martha “Mert” Walorski, 83, told Biden, 79, that her daughter is “in heaven” at a signing of a bill banning cameras, Rep. Walorski’s brother Keith told the New York Post.
Walorski’s widower Dean Swihart also attended the White House bill signing on Friday, where the family met the president in private.
The meeting follows Biden’s infamous blunder last week, where he asked ‘Where’s Jackie?’ even though she died a month earlier.
“Well, Mr. President, we can tell you where Jackie is. She is in heaven with Jesus,” Martha Walorski told Biden on Friday, according to her son’s account of her son’s events.
“He could only agree,” Keith said of Biden’s response. “He is a very Catholic person. He is very strong in his Catholicism. So all he could say was, ‘Yeah, you’re right. I know.”
Biden was cleaning up with the family on Friday. He welcomed Martha to his seat at the Resolute Desk for a photo, and took the family on a tour of the West Wing — including his private dining room and the seldom-seen outdoor pool.
President Joe Biden apologized to the family of the late Representative Jackie Walorski at an Oval Office meeting on Friday after his blunder two days prior to questioning where the late lawmaker was.
Walorski’s mother Martha “Mert” (center) told Biden, “Well, Mr. President, we can tell you where Jackie is. She is in heaven with Jesus,” according to her son Keith’s account of the events
At an event on hunger and food insecurity on Wednesday, the president thanked lawmakers for their work on a plan to end hunger in the US by 2030 when he suddenly tried to locate Walorski.
“Jackie, are you here?” Biden said, interrupting his own comments.
‘Where’s Jackie? She shouldn’t be here,” Biden concluded.
The White House received a confusing and nonsensical explanation shortly after as to why the president was looking for the deceased representative, as White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeatedly claimed that the president had not forgotten that Walorski was dead.
President Biden on Wednesday asked a crowd at a hunger conference to point to Republican Representative Jackie Walorski — nearly two months after she was killed in a car accident in Indiana
She insisted it’s “not uncommon” for people to say the names of deceased individuals when they’re “top of mind,” a phrase she kept repeating during her briefing Wednesday during questions from multiple outlets, including CNN, CBS and The Washington Post.
Jean-Pierre said Walorski was at the forefront of the president because she helped with the hunger plan and the fact that he met with her family on Friday to sign a bill.
Biden’s communications team banned photographers and reporters from attending the bill signing with the Walorski family just two days after the gaffe.
“As you all know, we don’t schedule every bill signing,” Jean-Pierre told reporters.
“You can imagine that this is a personal moment that the president was dealing with,” she continued.
“As I mentioned in the briefing a few days ago, the president has been looking forward to receiving the families of the deceased representatives and other lawmakers to honor her legacy.”
The mother of late Representative Jackie Walorski, Martha “Mert” Walorski, is seen hugging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a Sept. 20 ceremony to designate a Veterans Affairs clinic in Indiana as the Jackie Walorski VA Clinic in honor of of the deceased legislator
Biden apologized to the family during a conversation lasting about half an hour last week.
He then welcomed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers to the Oval Office, where he signed the bill to rename an Indiana Veterans Affairs clinic in Walorksi’s honor.
Walorski was one of four people killed in a head-on collision in her home state in early August.
Two of her staff and the driver of the other vehicle were also killed in the accident.
After the crash, Biden issued a statement about Walorski and ordered flags to be flown at half-mast.
Walorski was one of four people killed in a head-on collision in her home state of Indiana in early August, as she returned from cutting a ribbon with two of her staffers.
Investigators determined that the SUV driven by Zachery Potts, 27, (left) crossed the centerline for unknown reasons in a rural area near the town of Wakarusa. Walorski communications director Emma Thomson (right) was also killed
Jackie’s brother Keith said before the White House visit that he was not angry with Biden for the gaffe, adding that he spoke to the president after the fatal crash last month.
He previously said he felt sorry for the president, claiming that Biden is “doing his best with what he has now and that the latest gaffe is “normal.”
Keith did acknowledge that “a fancy way of putting it” is that Biden is forgetful because of his age.
“I don’t think anyone would look at the things he’s done and said and say his mind is as sharp as it used to be,” he added.
President Biden and First Lady Jill issued a statement in August following the deaths of Walorski and her two staffers