Joe Biden mixed up Angela Merkel for a former dead German chancellor twice during a campaign event.
In his latest gaffe, Biden, 81, claimed to have spoken to Helmut Kohl in 2021 at a G7 summit, despite the German politician having been dead for four years.
The 81-year-old had in fact spoken to Merkel at the summit, where leaders were discussing the January 6 Capitol riots, which had happened a few months prior.
Speaking at a fundraiser in New York yesterday, he said: “Helmut Kohl turned to me and said, ‘What would you say, Mr. President, if you picked up the London Times and learned that 1,000 people had broken down the doors of the British parliament, killed some bobbies on the way in, to deny the prime minister to take office.”
Joe Biden confused Angela Merkel with a dead German chancellor twice
Reuters/Getty
Kohl, who stood down more than 20 years ago, died in 2017, four years before his supposed conversation with Biden took place. Merkel attended the summit as the German chancellor.
Re-delivering the speech given later again that day, Biden made the same mistake.
Less than a week earlier, Biden made a similar mix-up when referring to Emmanuel Macron, confusing him with a dead French politician instead.
The 81-year-old confused Francois Mitterrand, the former French president who died in 1996, for the current leader.
Speaking in front of an audience of hospitality workers in Las Vegas ahead of Tuesday’s primary, he told the same anecdote about the G7 summt.
He said: “"Mitterrand from Germany, I mean, from France, looked at me and said. You know, what ... why … how long you back for?
“And I looked at him and...the Chancellor of Germany said: 'What would you say, Mr President, if you picked up the paper tomorrow in the London Times, and the London Times said, 'a thousand people break through the House of Commons, break down the doors, two bobbies are killed in order to stop the election of the Prime Minister.' What would you say?”
It is believed that this is a response to the January 6 attack on the Capitol in Washington DC.
Mitterrand became French president in 1981 and remained in office until 1995. He died a year later, aged 79.