Just one day after President Biden delivered his State of the Union address, many liberals said questions about his mental health had been put to rest, and the president raised eyebrows with several gaffes in Pennsylvania.
After presenting his agenda to a joint session of the House and Senate on Friday, Biden visited Strath Haven Middle School in Delaware County for his first campaign stop in a battleground state. There, he touted his plans for a second term in the White House, protecting abortion rights, defending his economic record and advocating for new gun control laws. He also made several unreasonable errors during his speech, which drew ridicule from Republicans.
“Pennsylvania, I have something to say to you: Send me to Congress!” Biden yelled at one point, as if to disrupt the office he was running for. He served his six terms in the U.S. Senate representing Delaware in Congress until becoming Vice President in 2008.
Later in his remarks, Biden said, “We reduced the deficit and increased the national debt more than any president in his term, more than we did under Donald Trump.”
Biden attacks ‘predecessor’ Trump, Republican in partisan speech
US President Joe Biden attends a campaign event with First Lady Jill Biden at Strath Haven Middle School on March 8, 2024 in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, US. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Both comments were picked up by the Republican National Committee’s opposition research account and shared widely regarding X.
At another point, Biden incorrectly referred to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot as occurring on “July 6,” and later corrected himself.
The gaffes illustrate how the 81-year-old Biden must continue to contend with criticism from Republicans about his age and mental stamina as the general election heats up.
The president won praise from many liberals for his “vigorous” State of the Union address on Thursday.
Biden’s State of the Union address reinforced concerns about mental acuity and age, Republicans say.
President Biden made several gaffes during his speech in Delaware County, including asking Pennsylvania voters to “send me to Congress!” (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Former CNN journalist John Harwood, known as one of President Biden’s most sycophantic supporters in the media, ridiculed the president’s critics for saying they were concerned about his vitality.
”[T]”Democrats are complaining that Biden lacks energy and is now fighting with cold water thrown in his face,” he wrote, before adding, “This morning, it’s been a long time since Biden hasn’t had a job. People who are yelling look pretty stupid,” he added.
“My fellow Americans, the question facing our country is not how old we are, but how old our thinking is. Hatred, anger, revenge, and retaliation are the oldest. It’s a way of thinking,” CNN analyst Juliet Kayyem wrote, citing Biden’s speech. “Biden seems to have the perfect framework on the age issue.”
Paul Krugman, a left-wing columnist for the New York Times, said, “One idea: The whole Biden is too old thing was some kind of bubble, where people were buying it primarily because other people were buying it.” Was Biden just being Biden?” Will that bubble burst? ”
Liberal journalists celebrate Biden’s performance at SOTU, say age issue is over
Republicans viewed the speech differently. They questioned why Biden kept shouting to emphasize his points, noting that he sometimes spoke very quickly and had slurred speech.
“A lot of times it was difficult to understand what he was saying,” House said. freedom caucus Chairman Bob Good, Republican Party of Virginia. “He was kind of mumbling and slurring his speech.”
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“We couldn’t understand him. He was so angry,” Republican Sen. Roger Marshall agreed. The volume went up and down.
senator ted cruzRepublican of Texas, said the president’s annual address “reminds me of an angry old man standing on his front porch yelling, ‘Get out of my front yard!'”
Fox News Digital’s Jeffrey Clark, Julia Johnson, Elizabeth Elkind and Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
