WATCH: Even KJP Struggles To Justify Biden’s Blunder in French
WATCH: Even KJP Struggles To Justify Biden’s Blunder in French
During a speech in Las Vegas this past February, President Joe Biden recounted a 2021 meeting with G7 leaders, where he had to address the January 6 protests and riots with NATO heads.
In the process, he mistakenly mixed up the current French President, Emmanuel Macron, with the late French President François Mitterrand, who passed away in 1996. This blunder put White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in the hot seat during a subsequent press briefing, where she struggled to defend Biden’s mistake.
While speaking in Vegas, Biden said, “It was in the south of England. And I sat down and I said, ‘America is back,’ and Mitterrand from Germany, I mean from France, looked at me and said – said, ‘you know what — why — how long you back for?’” He continued, “And I looked at him, and the — and the chancellor of Germany said, ‘What would you say Mr. President, if you picked up the paper tomorrow in the London Times and the London Times said, ‘A thousand people break through the House of Commons, break down the doors, two Bobbies are killed in order to stop the election of a prime minister. What would you say?’”
On February 8, Karine Jean-Pierre was questioned about Biden’s gaffe. The correspondent asked, “And multiple times this week, the President in his public remarks talked about having conversations in 2021 with European leaders who were deceased at that time.
So, can you give us an explanation into why the President was referring to those — to those people in those conversations and what exactly happened there?“
Jean-Pierre attempted to redirect the focus to the importance of the January 6 events, saying, “So, I know there has been a lot of focus on this. I want to just step back for a second and just kind of think, really, kind of top level of what the President was talking about when he was having — as he tells a story about having these conversations with world leaders, which are obviously important conversations.
He was underlying the January 6 events in 2021: what happened; the message that it sent around the globe, around the world to our leaders — to world leaders; how dangerous it is; our democracy — how important democracy was and — or is — continues to be, obviously.”
She elaborated further, emphasizing the significance of Biden’s message at the G7 summit: “And he was asked — he was asked when he was — after he was elected, when he went to the G7, he said — and you saw this — he — it was something that we were saying throughout that trip, ‘America is back.’ ‘America is back.’ And what — what was asked of him was, ‘For how long?‘”
However, Jean-Pierre’s response grew increasingly convoluted as she attempted to link Biden’s narrative to the broader themes of democracy and global leadership.
She noted, “And that whole story is just to reiterate, to really land, obviously, how important what we saw — that event — how important it is to continue to fight to our — for our democracy, but also, how important — how important it is — the United States — you know, their leadership — our leadership here in this — in the globe.”
In the end, Jean-Pierre acknowledged the possibility of misspeaking, saying, “So, just really want to make sure that we get that — that we understand why he — the reason he was telling that story. And, look — you know, look, as it relates to the names and — and what he was trying to — you know, what he was trying to — to say, look, many people — elected officials, many people — you know, they tend — they can — they can mis- — misspeak sometimes. Right?”
Her response, though intended to provide clarity, only highlighted the difficulty of addressing Biden’s slip and left the question of his mental acuity lingering.