Biden’s Teleprompter Gaffe Fuels Age Concerns

As the debate over the fitness of former President Donald Trump, 77, and President Joe Biden, 81, to serve another term intensifies, a closer examination of their recent rhetorical missteps provides insight into this issue.

During a speech before the North America Building Trade Union on April 24, Biden appeared to read a direction from his teleprompter to “pause.” He said, “Imagine what we can do next, four more years, pause,” before the crowd began chanting “four more years,” a frequent Biden rallying cry.

On April 17, during a visit to a Scranton, Penn., World War II memorial honoring his uncle, Ambrose Finnegan, Biden made a controversial statement. He twice suggested that his uncle’s body may have been eaten by cannibals, despite the official military account stating that his Air Force plane crashed into the ocean off the coast of New Guinea and that neither his body nor the aircraft were recovered.

On March 25, Trump made a claim about the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) that raised eyebrows. He stated that the “top person” at the NYSE was “very, very upset” and “mortified” that TMTG did not trade on the exchange. However, it remains unclear who Trump was referring to, as both the exchange’s president, Lynn Martin, and board chair, Sharon Bowen, are women.

During a press conference following a hearing for his hush money trial on March 25, Trump made another puzzling statement. He claimed that Trump Media & Technology Company decided not to trade on the New York Stock Exchange due to his ongoing court cases. However, Trump Media began trading on Tuesday on the Nasdaq stock exchange, which is also located in New York.

At a rally in Dayton, Ohio, on March 16, Trump made a significant verbal slip-up. He mistakenly referred to former President Barack Obama, possibly confusing himself with Obama.

During a speech in Rome, Georgia, on March 9, Trump made a controversial statement about polls. He claimed that “the polls are rigged” while discussing his appeal to suburban housewives, before abruptly backtracking.

In his State of the Union speech on March 7, Biden made several notable mistakes. He misidentified Laken Riley, the student murdered on the University of Georgia campus, calling her “Lanken,” while holding up a pin with her name on it. He also briefly said the 2021 Capitol riot took place on July 6, before correcting himself and saying “January 6.” Additionally, after speaking about capping prescription drug prices, Biden made an off-the-cuff remark and invited Congress to fly with him and see lower prices for their medications in “Toronto, Berlin, Moscow—I mean, excuse me—well, even Moscow, probably.”

These gaffes come amid concerns about the ages of the candidates, with Biden being the oldest president in history and Trump being the second oldest if he were elected again in November. Polls consistently show that Biden’s age is a greater concern for voters than Trump’s. Despite their ages, both candidates are poised for a closely contested rematch in November.