PRESIDENT-elect Joe Biden slipped up yet again and accidentally referred to vice president-elect Kamala Harris as the future leader of the United States.
Biden made the remarks early Tuesday morning while delivering a speech regarding the Covid-19 crisis in Wilmington, Delaware, before asking the president to recommend Americans take the vaccine once it becomes available to them.
“I hope the president will clearly and unambiguously urge all Americans to take the vaccine once it’s available,” the real president-elect said.
“I took it to instill public confidence in the vaccine. President-elect Harris took hers today for the same reason,” Biden mistakenly said.
The former vice president has received plenty of backlash on the campaign trail for his missteps in referring to people.
Biden, 78, has been at the receiving end of accusations that he may have experienced a cognitive decline after leaving the White House. He’s had a serious list of running gaffes over the years, including referring to Mitt Romney as the “Senator who was a Mormon” after forgetting his name, to accidentally referring to his wife Dr. Jill Biden as his sister Valerie.
Critics of Biden quickly took to Twitter to poke fun at the incoming president.
“Biden is the master of Freudian slips,” wrote one, while another Twitter thread has others poking more fun at Biden and questioning if Biden is experiencing side effects of the vaccine.
Biden’s remarks Tuesday caught the eye of both critics and supporters of the incoming president. Some members of each group believe Biden would be a one-term placeholder while Harris and others run the administration.
This isn’t the first time Biden and Harris perked some ears when referring to the future White House.
On the campaign trail, Biden said Harris, 56, would be ready to lead “from day one,” while Harris referred to the incoming White House team as the “Harris administration” while discussing economic plans during a roundtable.
“A Harris administration,” she said, before quickly correcting it, “together with Joe Biden as the president of the United States.”
