WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday brushed President Biden’s repeated recent errors in which he spoke as if long-retired and dead European leaders still held office, saying such mistakes can happen “to all of us.”
Biden, 81, twice told donors Wednesday that Helmut Kohl, who left office as German chancellor in 1998 and died in 2017, spoke with him in 2021 about that year’s Capitol riot — after saying Sunday that former French president Francois Mitterrand, who left office in 1995 and died in 1996, joined that conversation.
Jean-Pierre argued at her regular briefing that many people in politics misspeak and insisted that she had never heard Biden confuse the names of leaders in private.
“Look, as it relates to the names and what he was trying to say, look, many people, elected officials, many people — you know, they can misspeak sometimes, right?” Jean-Pierre began in her first answer to reporters who repeatedly raised the matter.
“Let me give you a couple of examples. On Sunday, Speaker [Mike} Johnson said ‘Iran’ instead of ‘Israel’. This happens. Joe is not here. There are many times I call Joe from USA Today Michael. I’m sure he doesn’t appreciate that,” Jean-Pierre said.
“Sean Hannity himself has said [former Utah Rep.] Jason Chaffetz when he meant [Florida Rep.] Matt Gaetz. I mean, it happens. It really happens. [Florida Sen.} Rick Scott even confuses saving Medicare money with cutting Medicaid — Medicare, pardon me. And so this happens.”
Jean Pierre added: “It happens to all of us and it is common.”
In a break from historical practice, the White House has not allowed Biden’s presidential physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor to take reporter questions and O’Connor’s annual reports on the president’s health have not mentioned any cognitive evaluations performed on the oldest-ever commander-in-chief.
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Polls show that ages is a significant liability for Biden in an expected rematch in November against former President Donald Trump, 77.
A New York Times poll released in November found 71% of swing-state voters say Biden is “too old to be an effective president,” versus 39% who said so of Trump.