Biden's 'Colombia' is actually 'Cambodia'
5 Min Read
US President Joe Biden made another mistake, adding to the gaffe series that raised concerns about his health.
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You say Cambodia, Biden says Colombia (Reuters)
Due to US President Joe Biden's rhetorical gaffe on Saturday, the ASEAN regional organization in Southeast Asia unexpectedly welcomed a new member from another continent.
"I want to thank the prime minister for Colombia's leadership as ASEAN chair," Biden said as he opened talks with regional leaders in Phnom Penh chaired by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The US President appeared to be thinking about Colombia in South America because he committed the same error as he left the White House for his protracted trip to Asia. He told reporters he was "heading over to Colombia," before quickly correcting himself to say, "I mean Cambodia."
Read next: Another Biden moment: "Two words... Made in America."
During his entire illustrious career in Washington, where he will be 80 this month, Biden has been renowned as a "gaffe machine".
Despite being geographically challenged, his most recent error may have been less obvious than Vice President Kamala Harris's remark made during a visit to the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea in September.
Harris claimed at the time that the US has "an alliance with the North Korean Republic. Additionally, it is a solid and long-lasting connection."
This is not a first for Biden; he demonstrated the same rhetorical gaffe before.
Trip down the 'gaffe' lane'
Earlier, US President Joe Biden received backlash on social media after responding in an interview with a long pause when asked if first lady Jill Biden would support him running for office again in 2024.
It isn't the first and probably won't be the last in the endless series of Biden gaffes. MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart asked Biden about running in 2024, "Dr. Biden is for it?” Biden looked down at the floor after a brief pause, prompting Capehart to follow up with, "Mr. President?"
"Dr. Biden thinks that, my wife thinks that," Biden said following another pause.
"That we’re doing something very important, and I shouldn't walk away from it," Biden added.
BIDEN: "It's my intention to run again."
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 21, 2022
Q: "Dr. Biden is for it?"
BIDEN: *silence*
Q: "Mr. President?"
BIDEN: "Dr. Biden thinks that uh, my wife thinks that uh, that I uh, that, that we're, that we're doing something very important."
🤔 pic.twitter.com/G4GGD32zG2
These come as the whispering tones down; senior Democratic officials have begun hinting in public the need to replace Joe Biden amid rising concerns over his mental fitness, stalled agenda, and inflation issues, in addition to fears of a defeat against running former President Donald Trump.
On July 16, the US President honored the "selfishness" of the US soldiers who fought corporate wars in the Middle East. Biden, who has been under large-scale scrutiny from his party for his unfitness for the presidency and senility, quickly corrected "selfishness" with "selflessness" in accordance with what was written on the paper he was reading from.
The Freudian slip was made at the Jeddah Security and Development Summit in Saudi Arabia, in the presence of the Gulf States, as well as Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq.
Biden, truthfully so, honored the "selfishness" of the US soldiers that continue to occupy countries around the world and reap resources for corporate profit.
Many tongue-in-cheek, as well as disappointing instances, have happened in recent memory. Biden, reading off a teleprompter read what he shouldn't have read: "end of quote," and "repeat the line" - and, he actually repeated the line.
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In late June, a similar incident that instigated political embarrassment was at the NATO Summit, when he declared that "Ukrainians will not defeat Ukrainians!"
We will be with the #Ukrainians to make sure that the #Ukrainians will not defeat them. That is, that the #Russians will not win — Biden.#Sweden - #Switzerland, #Russians - #Ukrainians. What a difference!#Biden #NATO #NATOSummit #USA #US #UnitedStates #AMERICA pic.twitter.com/4vWzrCPzC7
— K Boz (@KBoz3) June 30, 2022
During the conference, Biden also confused Sweden and Switzerland, as the leader welcomed Switzerland into NATO, before realizing he confused the two and corrected his mistake, saying NATO's expansion has gotten him anxious.
In July 2021, Biden in an address forgot a congressman’s name, then confuses about whether a guest’s mother is attending the event and asked if she was in the crowd.
Joe Biden forgets a congressman’s name, then confuses whether a guest’s mother is attending the event.
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 26, 2021
“Where’s mom? Mom?” pic.twitter.com/YxOMsKprQr
At the time, the New York Times wrote a piece on how Biden's age, 79, with his deteriorating health conditions, are making him increasingly unfit for the presidency.
While still amazing for a man of his age, according to them, his energy level has decreased, and several assistants are keeping a close eye on him. His walking is often shuffling, and his caregivers are concerned he'll tumble on a wire. They wait with anticipation to see if he avoids a slip-up because he frequently makes mistakes while speaking in front of large crowds.
Many Americans believe Biden is too old, as per the polls, and several Democratic strategists do not believe he should run for office again.
He has referred to Kamala Harris, the Vice President, as "President Harris" on several occasions. Biden fumbles over phrases like "kleptocracy", despite having overcome a childhood stammer. He has referred to Ukrainians as Iranians and called Virginia's Democratic Senator Mark Warner "John" multiple times, confusing him with the late Republican senator of the same name from Virginia.
As a matter of fact, the White House has been forced to retract some of his impromptu remarks, such as when he threatened a military response if China attacked Taiwan or said that Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot be in office."
Because the US President seems to not know how to act, his aides decided to hand him a cheat sheet! Mistakenly, the President held out the sheet prepared by his aides in one instance urging the prone-to-mistake leader of the free world to "take YOUR seat" and limit his remarks to "2 minutes".
