Biden, 81, appears to forget his own Defense Secretary’s name and calls him ‘black man’ as chorus to step down reaches fever pitch
President Joe Biden appeared to forget the name of his own Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, during an interview, instead calling him “black man.”
The president spoke during his campaign in Las Vegas, a trip that was cut short on Wednesday when the 81-year-old tested positive for COVID-19.
In the interview with the BET Network, Biden said, “It’s about treating people with dignity. Look at the criticism I’m getting for calling a, uh, the Secretary of Defense, a black man.”
He then forgot to mention Chief Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson’s full name.
“I appointed Ketanji Brown because of the people I appointed,” the president said.
Biden has often said that his Cabinet reflects the diversity of America, but he is now under scrutiny after his disastrous performance during the debate late last month.
President Joe Biden appears to forget Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s name during an interview with BET and instead simply calls him a “black man”
In the clip, Biden said, “It’s about treating people with dignity. Look at the criticism I’m getting for calling a, uh, the Secretary of Defense, a black man.” Secretary Lloyd Austin was photographed in Singapore this week
This week, conversations he had with leading Democrats in Congress have leaked to the press. There are reports that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have also called on him to withdraw from the race.
The official position of these lawmakers is that they did not pressure the president to withdraw from the race.
“Leader Hakeem Jeffries met privately with President Joe Biden a week ago. On behalf of the Democratic caucus in Hosue, he immediately expressed the full breadth of insight, perspective and conclusions reached about the path forward — after extensive, colleague-to-colleague discussions,” a Jeffries spokesperson told ABC News on Thursday.
“Any further characterization of the private, one-on-one meeting between President Biden and Leader Jeffries is speculative and uninformed,” the statement continued. “The letter Leader Jeffries sent to House Democratic colleagues speaks for itself.”
The letter, made public on Friday, did not provide details about the gist of the conversation.
A total of 20 Democrats have called on Biden to withdraw from the race.
On Wednesday, Rep. Adam Schiff, who is on track to win a California Senate seat, made his concerns public.
“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,” Schiff said in a statement. “And in doing so, secure his leadership legacy by enabling us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election.”
Axios reported Thursday that calls for Biden’s resignation have become so loud that an announcement could happen as early as this weekend.
The president flew from Las Vegas to Dover, Delaware, on Wednesday night and will remain at his Rehoboth Beach home until he tests negative for COVID-19.