President Biden appeared confused as he took to the stage with other world leaders at APEC on Thursday – after botching the name of the venue and refusing to mention a US company for fear of being mispronounced.
A video shared widely online showed the oldest US president scrunching his nose and looking around confused as he took a photo at the San Francisco-based conference.
As the other leaders took their places, Biden, who turns 81 next week, looked around slowly with a frown and occasionally pointed to the ground at pre-arranged markers.
One foreign dignitary appears to switch places with another — leaving Biden standing gaping.
As cameras flashed, the president could be seen looking around at other members of the group — with a confused expression on his face — before he was called on to speak.
He then took the arm of the dignitary by his side as he walked to the podium, where he began by apologizing for keeping everyone waiting at the event.
The video is shared by the Republican National Committee Research account on X, which said: “YIKES: Biden gets VERY confused as he stands among fellow world leaders at APEC summit.”
President Biden looked confused as he took the stage with other world leaders at APEC Thursday. X / @RNCResearch
“How long are they going to keep pretending?” a conservative accounts answer. “This is getting serious with all the things going on in the world.”
But Chris D. Jackson, a Tennessee election official, agreed: “Actually, it seems that the other leaders are confused, since they are in the wrong place.”
The viral incident came on the same day Biden decided not to name American businesses in his remarks on US corporate innovation for fear he would spoil his mention.
As the other leaders took their seats, Biden looked around slowly with a frown and occasionally pointed down at the prearranged markers.X / @RNCResearch
“IBM, Organon, Visa – look, they’re making, they’re making our region more resilient, safer,” the president said.
“Here, in this world-renowned hub of innovation, leading technology companies like Anthropic and — I’ll get it wrong [it]I won’t even try,” he said.
“It is better not to try and not mispronounce than to try and mispronounce,” he said to the laughter of dignitaries and other businessmen at the conference.
This incident happened after Biden spoiled the name of the place and refused to mention a US company for fear of being mispronounced. X / @RNCResearch
“It means that small and medium-sized business startups also get an accent.”
A day earlier, the president avoided another potentially challenging name, when he decided not to try to name CBS White House correspondent Weijia Jiang.
But he has spoiled the name of the event space where he spoke on Thursday.
“The Marcone Center is about the size of my state,” Biden said, referring to the Moscone Center — named after former San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, who was assassinated in 1978 along with Supervisor Harvey Milk.
As the camera flashes, the president can be seen looking around at the other members of the group, with a confused expression on his face. Reuters
The mistake spells trouble for the president’s re-election campaign, as polls show that a majority of voters feel Biden no longer has the “competence to carry out the duties of president.”
Just under a third of respondents, 31%, believe the president is still competent, a recent Yahoo News/YouGov poll showed, a drop of four percentage points from February.
Concerns about Biden’s “mental health and acuity” also rose, with 64% saying they were somewhat or very concerned about the matter.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
