President Biden acknowledged Thursday that there’s “still a lot more work to be done” in managing inflation and strengthening the economy. His remarks, however, were marred by several factual errors, including a false claim that he had never met with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
“Inflation was 9.1% [in June 2022]. The United States today is much closer to 2%. It doesn’t mean our work is done — far from it,” Biden stated during a speech at the Economic Club of Washington.
“I want to make it clear why I’m here. I’m not here to celebrate a victory. I’m not saying the job is finished. I’m definitely not saying we don’t have a lot more work to do.”
The 81-year-old president made these comments just a day after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half a percent, following a reduction in the annual inflation rate to 2.5% in August.
“I’ve never once spoken to the chairman of the Fed since I became president,” Biden then added.
However, the president and Powell did meet in May 2022 at the Oval Office, and the opening statements of that meeting were reported by the White House press pool.
Biden’s economic adviser, Jared Bernstein, quickly tried to correct the slip, explaining that “the president meant that he hasn’t spoken to Chair Powell specifically about interest rates.”
This wasn’t Biden’s only blunder during the event, which began with an introduction from Economic Club chairman David Rubenstein, who has lent Biden his expensive Nantucket residence for Thanksgiving each year of his presidency.
Biden also told the audience of business leaders at the hotel near the White House that he had traveled to South Korea to discuss semiconductor manufacturing with “President Ku-shi,” before correcting himself to say “President Hu.”
There has never been a South Korean president with that name. It’s possible that Biden confused South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol with former Chinese President Hu Jintao, who served from 2003 to 2013.
Biden further mistakenly referred to Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) as “Congressman Carper,” even though it is customary to use the highest office a politician has held. Carper left the House of Representatives in 1993, having since served as governor and senator.
These slip-ups reminded many of earlier moments when Biden seemed confused, such as when he referred to France’s president as Francois Mitterrand, who left office in 1995, and to Germany’s chancellor as Helmut Kohl, who left office in 1998.
Concerns about Biden’s cognitive state have intensified within his own party, leading to his decision to step down from pursuing a second term in July, as some Democrats raised alarms over his mental sharpness.
{Matzav.com}