Biden calls himself 'first black woman president'; what it means
What's the story
In one of his latest verbal gaffes, United States President Joe Biden said he is "proud" to be the first "black woman to serve with a black president." "By the way, I'm proud to be, as I said, the first vice-president, first black woman... to serve with a black president," he said, seemingly confusing his identity with Vice President Kamala Harris during an interview with Philadelphia's Wurd radio station.
Twitter Post
Audio clip from the interview
NEW: President Biden goes on incredibly confusing rant, calls himself the first black woman to serve with a black president.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 4, 2024
He also called himself the “first president that got elected statewide in the state of Delaware, when I was a kid.”
“By the way, I'm proud to be the, as… pic.twitter.com/VMNtVe85Pz
Future scrutiny
What Biden meant to say
What Biden could have meant was that he worked with both Barack Obama and Harris, who made history when they were elected as the first black president and the first African-American woman vice president. Obama was elected president in 2008, while Harris was elected vice president in 2020, respectively. Biden himself served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 under former President Obama.
More missteps
Biden's public struggles extend beyond radio interviews
Before the radio interview, he referred to Donald Trump as "one of our colleagues" and made perplexing remarks about road congestion while speaking to military families on the White House South Lawn. In another radio interview, Biden delivered an answer that seemed to reference the Supreme Court's recent decision granting Trump significant immunity from prosecution when asked why voting was important.
Falling polls
Biden's verbal errors impact public support
Polls show that public support for Biden has declined significantly since his first presidential debate with Trump last week, while trust in Harris has increased. A CNN flash poll revealed that 67% of viewers think Trump won the presidential debate on Thursday night, while 33% said Biden did better. This is a substantial departure from CNN's 2020 poll, in which 53% of viewers believed that Biden had won the final debate against Trump, according to Fox News.