President Joe Biden has repeatedly claimed this week to have spoken with world leaders who have long been dead, causing critics to question the world leader’s mental health in the lead-up to the 2024 election.
The latest incident took place on Wednesday when Biden told donors in New York that he had discussed the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl while at the G-7 Summit in Great Britain that same year.
The only problem? Kohl has been dead since 2017 and was the country’s chancellor last in 1998. The German chancellor in 2021 was Angela Merkel.
The incident is now the second time this week that Biden has referred to a dead leader. On Sunday, Biden recounted a similar story during a campaign event in Las Vegas in which he discussed the failed insurrection with French President François Mitterrand.
If that name doesn’t ring a bell, that’s because Mitterrand died in 1996, roughly 25 years before the Capitol riot. Biden was likely attempting to refer to French President Emmanuel Macron.
While some have described the gaffes as simple slips of the tongue, others have argued that the 81-year-old American president is clearly deteriorating mentally.
The initial slip-up led Fox News journalist Peter Doocy to question White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Biden’s mental state.
In response, Jean-Pierre brushed off the question.
“I’m not even going to go down that rabbit hole with you, sir,” she said.
A recent poll conducted by NBC News found that 76% of voters, including half of Democrats, are concerned about Biden’s age.
The latest gaffes from Biden have only seemed to add more fuel to the fire.
While Biden’s age could cause him issues in terms of re-electability, Trump is also facing hurdles.
The same NBC News poll found that 61% of voters have concerns over Trump’s mounting legal woes.
Trump, who is 77-years-old, is also no stranger to gaffes. In one recent example, Trump confused his primary opponent Nikki Haley with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) while also referencing Jan. 6.
