OPINION| In a moment that can only be described as a “hold my beer” level of political blunders, President Joe Biden managed to turn heads and raise eyebrows during his recent press conference. The gaffe-prone leader of the free world, in a stunning display of verbal acrobatics, referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump.” Yes, you read that correctly, Trump.
Now, before you start dusting off your MAGA hats and preparing for a Trump 2024 comeback, let’s take a closer look at the reactions from the likes of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. These three individuals, often seen as the pillars of the Biden administration’s foreign policy, were caught on camera with expressions ranging from “did he really just say that?” to “please let this be a dream.”
BIDEN: “VICE PRESIDENT TRUMP” pic.twitter.com/ERHH4GuFGS
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 11, 2024
Blinken, ever the diplomat, managed to maintain a poker face that would make a professional poker player jealous. His eyes widened ever so slightly, but his composure remained unshaken. One can only imagine the thoughts running through his mind at that moment: “Well, at least he didn’t call me Secretary Putin.”
The reaction from Biden’s team when he called Kamala “Vice President Trump”
ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS 🤣😂💀 pic.twitter.com/WLSFD2vDYp
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) July 12, 2024
Austin, on the other hand, seemed to be in a state of disbelief. His eyebrows shot up so fast, you’d think they were trying to escape the gravitational pull of his forehead. He quickly glanced around the room, perhaps hoping for a sign that this was all just a bad dream.
And then there’s Sullivan, who looked like he had just been hit by a truck. His jaw dropped, and his eyes darted from side to side, searching for an exit strategy. One can almost hear him thinking, “Is it too late to switch careers and become a professional mime?”
But it wasn’t just the reactions from the administration’s top brass that were noteworthy. The internet, being the unforgiving beast that it is, quickly jumped on the opportunity to turn this gaffe into a viral sensation. Memes flooded social media, with captions like “When you accidentally call your ex’s new partner by your ex’s name” and “Me when I accidentally call my boss ‘mom.'”
Of course, the incident didn’t go unnoticed by the political pundits and commentators, who wasted no time dissecting the situation. Some argued that this was just another example of Biden’s well-documented history of gaffes, while others saw it as a Freudian slip, revealing his true feelings about his own vice president.
But let’s not forget the man of the hour himself, President Joe Biden. In a rare moment of self-awareness, he quickly corrected himself, saying, “I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if I didn’t think she was qualified to be president.” Well, at least he got that part right.
.@PeterAlexander: “You referred to Vice President Harris as Vice President Trump. Right now Donald Trump is using that to mock your age and your memory. How do you combat that criticism from tonight?
President Biden: “Listen to him.” pic.twitter.com/hJPpXbvDFi
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 12, 2024
Now, some might argue that this is just a harmless slip of the tongue, a simple mistake that anyone could make. And they’re probably right. But in the world of politics, where every word is scrutinized and analyzed, even the smallest of gaffes can have consequences.
So, what does this mean for the Biden administration? Only time will tell. But one thing is for sure: this is a moment that will go down in the annals of political gaffes, right up there with “covfefe” and “binders full of women.” And who knows, maybe one day, we’ll look back on this and laugh. Or, more likely, we’ll just shake our heads and wonder how we ended up with a president who can’t even remember his own vice president’s name.
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