Biden appears confused, loses train of thought at White House July 4th events: ‘Probably shouldn’t even say that’
President Biden made several odd gaffes and misstatements throughout the official White House Fourth of July celebration, appearing confused at times and puzzlingly greeting the crowd with a hearty “Ho ho ho! Happy Independence Day!”
The president, 81, and first lady Jill Biden were joined on stage by Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff. Harris introduced the “extraordinary” President Biden who then began a short statement of well-wishing for the holiday.
Biden looked more sprightly than during his much-maligned June 27 debate performance. But his statements weren’t much more coherent despite being louder in volume.
“We gotta do what our founders did: show the world we’re a nation of dignity, honor, and just devotion to one another,” he said before telling the audience to enjoy the fireworks.
As Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” blared, the group made their way off the stage.
Biden, bringing up the rear, suddenly paused his gait mid-step, seemingly unsure to whom he should hand the microphone.
He then took a few slow steps across the stage, now by himself, before handing off the mic to a stagehand.
He then slowly descended a short flight of stairs before mingling with the crowd.
Earlier in the day, Biden seemingly lost his train of thought as he stumbled through his very brief speech at a White House barbeque — bizarrely claiming that highway congestion no longer exists and nearly calling nemesis Donald Trump his “colleague.”
“I probably shouldn’t even say that … anyway,” the commander in chief said after the latter bumble to a crowd of military service members and their families.
Biden trailed off several times in his four-minute speech, which was peppered with slurring, despite having a teleprompter at his disposal.
The Democrat focused his remarks on his visit last month to Normandy, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day and the “heroes” who gave their life for democracy.
Biden compared World War I to the modern-day presidential race, questioning whether Americans would be willing to make the same sacrifice in his race against Trump — before starting — and abruptly stopping — a dig at the presumptive Republican nominee.
“By the way, I was in that World War I cemetery in France, and one that my colleagues, the former president, didn’t want to go and be up there,” Biden said before giving up and admitting he shouldn’t have made the comment.
He also strangely claimed he was “in and out of battle” on the trip, another statement he suddenly cut short before pivoting with his favorite segue: “Anyway.”
Biden then left the stage to a round of hefty applause but grabbed the microphone for another 30-second encore in which he said traffic is no longer an issue — something New Yorkers would beg to differ.
“One last thing, and I used to think when I was a senator, there were always congestion on the highways. There’s no congestion anymore. We go on the highway, there’s no congestion,” Biden said.
“And so what? The way they get me to stop talking, they’ll say, ‘We just shut down all the roads, Mr. President, you’re gonna lose all the votes if you don’t get in. But anyway, I’ll be back out,” he nonsensically added.
The White House did not respond to The Post’s request for comment regarding Biden’s odd remarks.
The all-over-the-place speech comes amid rumors from establishment Democrats that the party is considering replacing the bumbling and aging president.
Former Obama presidential adviser Van Jones said Thursday that the party is now in “full-scale panic” following Biden’s highly criticized debate performance against former President Donald Trump last week.
Biden had a series of gaffes throughout the 90-minute debate — including saying his son Beau “died in Iraq” and that he “beat Medicare” while also appearing to freeze at one point.
