Joe Biden has suffered yet another unfortunate gaffe after inviting a young man on stage to wish him a happy birthday in the latest sign his health is in decline.
The President, 82, was singing into a microphone in front of a crowd full of people when he forgot the man’s name, leading to an awkward gap in the song.
The man took the gaffe well, laughing it off as Biden’s voice trailed off at the part of the song he didn’t know, before picking up again for the end of the song.
‘Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to…,’ he sung into the microphone.
Video of the blunder has now gone viral, prompting critics to brand the President an ’embarrassment’ and begin a countdown for Donald Trump’s inauguration.
‘Biden brought a guy on stage to sing happy birthday to him… The problem is he either doesn’t know his name or forgot it… and mumbled nonsense instead,’ one wrote.
‘Joe Biden has no clue who he’s singing happy birthday to, this administration is a joke,’ another added.
Biden has faced mounting concern about his health after suffering a steady stream of mishaps which got progressively worse throughout his presidency.
The President, 82, was singing into a microphone in front of a crowd full of people when he forgot the man’s name, leading to an awkward gap in the song
Speculation was at an all-time high after his campaign-ending debate against Trump while he was still in the running for re-election. He appeared confused, slack-jawed and Trump ran circles around him at every opportunity.
In the wake of the backlash, he dropped out of the race and Kamala Harris went on to become the Democrat nominee.
The president’s health has been back in the news since The Wall Street Journal published a story on December 19 on how aides dealt with a ‘diminished’ president throughout his entire term.
The report revealed that aides would have to repeat obvious instructions to Biden – such as where to exit a stage, put other officials into roles usually occupied by the president, scrapped meetings on his ‘bad days’, and kept him at arm’s length from his own Cabinet members.
His term was riddled with embarrassing gaffes and blunders, including introducing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as ‘President Putin‘ at the NATO summit in July, bumping into flagpoles and falling off bikes.
Toward the end of 2023, President Biden began experiencing more frequent and embarrassing mishaps which indicated he was not up to the task of another four years running the country.
At a private fundraising event in New York in September 2023, Biden repeated the same story twice within minutes, about how events in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, and the reaction of Donald Trump, inspired him to run for the White House.
On Aug 11, 2017 white supremacists and neo-Nazis descended on the city and clashes continued into the following day.
Biden has faced mounting concern about his health after suffering a steady stream of mishaps which got progressively worse throughout his presidency
Speculation was at an all-time high after his campaign-ending debate against Trump while he was still in the running for re-election
President Joe Biden looked spritely as he was greeted with applause on Sunday
According to a White House report of the private event, he began speaking just after 4pm in a living room in front of about two dozen people.
After briefly talking about his economic record, he reflected on his decision to seek the presidency and ‘talked about the events of Charlottesville’ as the reason for his campaign, the report said.
‘A few minutes later, he told the story again, nearly word for word,’ the report stated.
Then just weeks later in late September, ailing Biden seemed to produce gaffe after gaffe while on the UN stage alongside Brazil‘s President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Lula da Silva, 78, looked visibly irritated after the two leaders shared a stage to speak about their initiative to improve workers’ rights in each country – because Biden walked off without shaking his hand.
Their diplomatic meeting got off to a labored start when Biden shuffled into a seven-foot Brazilian flag, leaving it teetering as he approached the podium.
Two days later on September 22 during a keynote speech in Washington, DC, Biden mistakenly praised the ‘Congressional Black Caucus’ during a speech to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Then came the June 2024 car crash debate with Trump, which ultimately cost him the candidacy for the Presidential election.
President Joe Biden appeared to ‘wander off’ into the Amazon rainforest in November
Twice during a discussion with African officials and US business leaders who are investing in the Lobito Trans-Africa Corridor, the 82-year-old president closed his eyes for at least a minute
Since then, he’s been serving in somewhat of a caretaker Presidential role until Trump resumes control of the White House later this month.
Even still, Biden’s blunders have been mounting.
In November, he was seen ‘wandering off’ into the Amazon rainforest during an official visit, and just last month he appeared to doze off on screen during a visit to Angola.
Twice during a discussion with African officials and US business leaders who are investing in the Lobito Trans-Africa Corridor, the 82-year-old president closed his eyes for at least a minute. At one point, his hand twitched and he dropped something.
Reporters traveling with him noted Biden looked tired. The president was on the final day of a three-day trip to sub-Saharan Africa.
In one session, he referred to Ukrainian President Zelensky as President Putin, and to Vice President Kamala Harris as Vice President Trump.
