'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAb/xAAVAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADBf/aAAwDAQACEAMQAAAAkZ0sD//EACEQAAICAQIHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIDAQQRBRIABgchQYHS/9oACAEBAAE/AKfNytAtaiia7WkdUFbxKB2QW1uY9AMY+Yze6hBdu2LT9Lw57CacC7tkpzPjj//EABkRAAIDAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEDAAIEEv/aAAgBAgEBPwBmZTR1cT//xAAZEQACAwEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABBAACAxH/2gAIAQMBAT8AWd3VJGVuT//Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Joe Biden will turn 81 in November, and concerns about his age are already brewing at a substantial pace. On Wednesday, while speaking at a Manhatten campaign reception, the president found himself repeating the same story nearly word-for-word. Biden's story was about the 2017 Charlottesville riots and why he decided to run for president again.
The latest in the long series of gaffes that got people questioning Biden's competency as an 80-year-old president came to the surprise of nobody. People advised the president to step down and take some rest while others were genuinely concerned for the country. Many also made jokes and comments about the president's latest slip-up. One X user said:
A concerning revelation from an Associated Press-NORC poll conducted last month, shockingly revealed that 77% of Americans thought that Joe Biden was way too old to be president. According to the poll, 89% of Republicans and even 69% of Democrats thought that the president was no longer capable.
The President tells the story of the 2017 Charlottesville riots...twice
On Wednesday, September 20, the president was speaking at a re-election fundraiser hosted by American billionaire heiress, Gardner, philanthropist, and author, Amy Goldman Fowler, at her private residence in Manhattan, New York. The president spoke about the 2017 Charlottesville riots, his predecessor Trump's reaction to it, and his decision to run for election. He said:
"But then along came, in August of 2017, Charlottesville, Virginia."
He added:
"You remember those folks walking out of the fields literally carrying torches, with Nazi swastikas, holding them forward, singing the same vicious, anti-Semitic bile — the same exact bile — bile that was sung in — in Germany in the early ‘30s."
"And a young woman was killed. A young woman was killed."
However, this was not the end of it. According to a pool report by Jonathan Lemire, the president once again told the story, "nearly word for word" after a few minutes had passed. This was not hidden in the White House transcripts either. After talking about his grandchildren's role in his running for president, the transcripts reveal that the president once again starts with the Charlottesville story:
"You know, you may remember that, you know, those folks from Charlottesville, as they came out of the fields and carrying those swastikas, and remember the ones with the torches and the Ku — accompanied by the Ku Klux Klan."
Netizens ask Biden to step down
Biden's word-for-word repetition of the story left no one surprised but everyone concerned. People were begging the president to go take some rest and allow someone else to replace him. Some netizens made remarks and jokes about the president's age while others rallied for his retirement.
This latest gaffe comes after a more serious one on the same day when Joe Biden walked into a giant flag pole at the United Nations stage before confusedly walking on stage. After a joint speech, he later shook hands with International Labor Organization Director-General Gilbert Huongbo but snubbed a visibly frustrated Brazil president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's attempt at a handshake.
