President Joe Biden is on a quest to reassure voters and Democrats he can effectively serve another four years in office-- but he’s off to a rough start.
During a Friday night rally in Michigan, it took Biden about 30 seconds to malfunction as he botched a prominent Democratic congresswoman’s name.
Before stumbling right out the gate, the 81-year-old president repeatedly insisted that he was “OK” as he faces mounting pressure to exit the 2024 race due to his cognitive decline.
“I promise you, I am – I’m OK,” Biden told the crowd.
He then tried to give Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) a shout-out but failed miserably before trailing off into a questionable rant.
“Members of Congress – Debbie Haley,” Biden said, referring to Dingell.
It took about 30 seconds into Biden's Michigan event for his brain to completely malfunction pic.twitter.com/UEeQXQBD4D
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 12, 2024
Later at the rally, the octogenarian president admitted that he sometimes confuses people’s names.
“I sometimes confuse names. I say that's Charlie instead of Bill,” he said.
Biden used the opportunity to attack former President Donald Trump, accusing the media of giving him a “free pass.”
He defiantly told the crowd that he was “not going anywhere." His remarks come as one Democratic senator and roughly 20 House Democrats urged Biden to step aside just four months before the November election.
“I am running. And we're going to win,” he said, adding that another Trump presidency would be “deadly serious.”
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Biden's Michigan stop is part of the president's campaign to win back votes from midwestern states. The campaign claims that Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania are the “clearest pathway” to victory as Trump takes the lead in crucial swing states.
The president slammed recent reports concerning Biden’s ailing health and criticized the press for “hammering” him.
Media outlets, including left-leaning ones, have put Biden’s cognitive decline in the spotlight ever since his havoc-wreaking debate performance.
His rally drew a noticeable absence from the state’s Democrats.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) did not attend the rally.
According to an Emerson College poll, Trump leads Biden in the state, 45 to 44 percent.
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