It probably happens to everyone at some point. One minute you’re talking, you have a memory lapse and forget some detail or get your wires crossed and spit out the wrong information.
And President Joe Biden is definitely not exempt from such lapses.
During an event on Tuesday, Biden said, “By the way, is the doctor here?
“You see Dr. Jha, see that guy right there? He’s the guy that’s running the CDC for me these days, basically,” Biden added.
Watch the video below:
BIDEN: "You see Dr. Jha, see that guy right there? He's the guy that's running the CDC for me these days."
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 21, 2022
Rochelle Walensky is the director of the CDC. Ashish Jha is Biden's COVID response coordinator. pic.twitter.com/vmD1H4a1xk
The president was apparently referring to the White House COVID-19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha.
However, Jha is not the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That would be Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
There appear to be three options to explain what happened in this clip.
Either Biden got confused about the role Jha plays in the White House, or he actually meant Jha has somehow — as he said — “basically” taken over the role of CDC director, or he forgot who the CDC director is.
Check out some of the reactions below:
Networks dwelled heavily on Trump calling Apple boss Tim Cook "Tim Apple." They'll skip this, let's guess. https://t.co/fris19vy8E
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) June 22, 2022
Right church wrong pew. https://t.co/oumizfwBaC
— Billy Long (@auctnr1) June 21, 2022
My favorite is when they take their mask off to talk in people's faces https://t.co/nAVMX2C6Nz
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) June 21, 2022
Pulls his mask down to talk in close contact. https://t.co/7PUNK0GUdt
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) June 21, 2022
So much for affirmative action. In Biden’s eyes it’s always a guy in charge. https://t.co/6Iz0QUGFsN
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) June 21, 2022
This is not the first time Biden has appeared confused about members of his administration.
Last March, the name of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the Pentagon seemed to escape the president’s memory.
“I want to thank the sec… the, the former general. I keep calling him general, but my, my… the guy who runs that outfit over there. I want to make sure we thank the secretary for all he’s done to try to implement what we just talked about,” Biden said at the White House.