Biden wrongly claims he was vice president during COVID-19 pandemic in campaign speech

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, May 21, 2024

U.S. President Joe Biden answers questions about Israel after speaking about the Special Counsel report in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on February 8, 2024, in a surprise last-minute addition to his schedule for the day. A long-awaited report cleared President Joe Biden of any wrongdoing in his mishandling of classified documents from his tenure in the Senate and as vice president on February 8, but dropped a political bombshell by painting the Democrat as a 'well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.' — U.S. President Joe Biden answers questions about Israel after speaking about the Special Counsel report in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on February 8, 2024, in a surprise last-minute addition to his schedule for the day. A long-awaited report cleared President Joe Biden of any wrongdoing in his mishandling of classified documents from his tenure in the Senate and as vice president on February 8, but dropped a political bombshell by painting the Democrat as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." | MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

President Joe Biden raised eyebrows by suggesting he was vice president during the COVID-19 pandemic, even though he was out of office for several years when the coronavirus spread worldwide in late 2019 and early 2020.

In remarks at the NAACP's 69th Annual Fight for Freedom Fund on Sunday in Detroit, Michigan, Biden recalled how "when I was vice president, things were kind of bad during the pandemic and what happened was Barack said to me, 'Go to Detroit and help fix it.'"

However, the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States did not break out until early 2020, three years after former President Barack Obama and Biden left office.

A transcript of Biden's remarks at the campaign event shows the word "pandemic" crossed out and replaced with the word "recession," indicating that the president meant to use that word instead.

The replacement of "pandemic" with "recession" is one of several edits made to the transcript, suggesting that Biden made multiple errors during his speech.

Biden also described himself as "humbled to receive this organization, which defines the character and consequence of what we do." The transcript suggests that the president had meant to use the word "award" instead of "organization."

Biden detailed how he "protected and expanded the Affordable Care Act" as president by "saving millions of families $800,000" in premiums. During the speech, the president acted as if he knew he misspoke, attempting to correct the record by insisting that he meant "$8,000 a year" in premiums. According to the transcript, the president misspoke twice as he meant to say he saved millions of families $800 a year in premiums.

Other misstatements made during the speech include using the word "who" instead of "to" when discussing how "we're cracking down on corporate landlords who keep rents down" and the use of the word "have" as opposed to "are" when asserting that black women are "nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy complications than a white woman."

The transcript reflects that Biden meant to say "the insurrectionists who stormed Capitol Hill" as opposed to what he said: "the irrectionists who stormed Capitol Hill." He told the crowd that former President Donald Trump has vowed that there would be "bloodshed" if he lost the 2024 presidential election to Biden but actually meant to say a "bloodbath." While the president proclaimed that "the NAAC spirit endures," he intended to assert that "the NAACP spirit endures."

Biden's speech and its many misstatements come as some have voiced concern about the 81-year-old president's ability to carry out his office's duties effectively.

A poll released by ABC News/Ipsos in February sampling the opinions of 528 United States adults found that 86% believe Biden is too old to serve another term as president.

This figure includes the 59% of respondents who think both Biden and Trump, his 77-year-old expected Republican opponent, are too old to be president and 27% who think just Biden is too old. Another February 2024 poll by The New York Times and Siena College found that 73% of the 823 registered voters surveyed believe that "Joe Biden is just too old to be an effective president," while 42% said the same about Trump.

A report released by special counsel Robert Hur in February 2024 based on an investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents during his time as vice president raised further questions about his mental acuity.

The report characterized the president as an "elderly man with a poor memory" and noted that he failed to recall when his son Beau died and discussed how his late son received a rosary from "Our Lady Of," finishing the sentence without completely identifying the place where he first obtained the Catholic prayer item.

Biden and the White House have repeatedly dismissed all claims that the president is unfit for his position. The president is locked in a tight reelection battle with Trump. The RealClearPolitics average of polls measuring voter intentions in the 2024 presidential election based on surveys taken from April 18 to May 19 shows Trump leading Biden by 1.1 percentage points.

When sampling voters' opinions in a five-way race that includes Biden, Trump, likely Green Party nominee Jill Stein, and independent candidates Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Cornel West, Trump's lead grows to 2.8 percentage points. Trump currently leads Biden in all of the swing states that could likely decide the 2024 presidential election, maintaining a 5.2% lead in Arizona, a 4.6% advantage in Georgia, a 0.8% advantage in Michigan, a 6.2% lead in Nevada, a 2% lead in Pennsylvania and a 0.6% advantage in Wisconsin.

Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com