THEY MUST HAVE PUT THAT IN THE TELEPROMPTER FOR A REASON PEOPLE.
Gee, what could it be?
AXIOS here:
Other instances of trying to explain away Biden's lapses have gotten
renewed scrutiny as potential evidence that top aides were covering up
Biden slipping mentally.
- In September 2022 at a speech on food insecurity, Biden tried to give a shout-out to Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), who had worked on the issue — but who had been killed in a car accident weeks earlier.
- Biden had issued a statement of condolences. The White House flew flags at half-staff in honor of her death.
- "Representative — Jackie, are you here? Where's Jackie? I think she wasn't going to be here," Biden said at the event.
Biden's prepared remarks included a note that Walorski had recently passed away and thanked her for her contributions, two people familiar with the speech told Axios.
- Biden didn't remember she had died, and either ignored the Teleprompter or had trouble reading it.
- White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre deflected tough questioning the next day by CNN's Phil Mattingly, CBS's Steven Portnoy and others.
- Jean-Pierre refused to acknowledge Biden made a mistake, and didn't commit to releasing the original version of the remarks.
- She said at the briefing: "I don't think it's all that unusual to have someone top of mind, especially as there's a big event."
- The White House didn't respond to questions about this incident.
