President Joe Biden suffered a gaffe during a speech as the Democratic panic surrounding his presidential candidacy continues to grow.
Biden visited the D.C. Emergency Operations Center on Tuesday to deliver remarks on extreme weather and to propose a new rule aimed at protecting tens of millions of workers from extreme heat. During his speech, Biden accidentally said that the government has invested billions to "expand energy shortages" so that lights, air conditioning, refrigeration and internet connection remain on during events like heatwaves and storms.
A transcript from the White House shows that Biden had meant to say "storages."
"We've invested billions to enhance our power grid, expand energy shortages [storages] so that lights, air conditioning, refrigeration, Internet stay on during heat waves, storms, and other climate changes. It's building back a different way," the transcript reads.
Republicans quickly seized on Biden's comments as additional evidence that the president is unfit to serve another term, but the gaffe also comes at a bad time for Biden's reputation among members of his own party.
Earlier in the day, Representative Lloyd Doggett became the first Democratic member of Congress to publicly call for Biden to step down as the party's presidential nominee, citing Biden's debate performance last week.
"Recognizing that, unlike Trump, President Biden's first commitment has always been to our country, not himself, I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw," Doggett said in a statement. "I respectfully call on him to do so."
The questions surrounding Biden's re-election campaign have continued to swirl after he came head-to-head against former President Donald Trump on the debate stage and delivered a performance that even he conceded did not go well.
Former Obama Housing Secretary Julián Castro also told MSNBC Tuesday, "Another Democrat would have a better shot at beating Trump" and that "Democrats would do well to find a different candidate." In another appearance on the network, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it was a "legitimate question" to ask whether Biden's debate performance was just "an episode" or "a condition."
Biden is expected to hold a meeting with Democratic governors on Wednesday after several officials sought to discuss their concerns with the president. CNN reported Tuesday that those worries were aired on a Monday call organized by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Several reportedly expressed surprise that they did not hear from Biden himself after Thursday's debate.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear told reporters Monday that the debate had been "rough" but that he would continue to support Biden "so long as he continues to be in the race."
Update 04/03/24, 10:39 a.m. ET: This story was updated with the White House's transcript.
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more
