Joe Biden got mixed up while expressing sympathy for the victims of weekend mass shootings in Texas and Ohio.
The 2020 frontrunner mistakenly referred to “the tragic events in Houston today and also in Michigan the day before” at a fundraiser in San Diego, California on Sunday, The Washington Examiner reported. Thirty-one people were killed in back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso, Texas on Saturday and Dayton, Ohio early Sunday.
Biden appears to have mixed up Houston with El Paso and Ohio with Michigan. He later corrected himself, according to the Examiner.
All mixed up
Biden was speaking with donors at a fundraising dinner at the home of businessman Mark Arabo, an advocate for persecuted Iraqi Christians, when he made the flub, the Examiner reported. The Democrat said that he does not hold Trump personally responsible for the violence, but the “president’s words have meaning, no matter who he or she is.”
A mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas left 22 people dead and dozens injured Saturday afternoon. Hours later, a gunman shot nine people dead in Dayton, Ohio and injured more than two dozen others.
The Dayton shooter was killed, but the El Paso shooter was taken alive. Texas prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
The El Paso shooting intensified criticism of President Donald Trump after a white nationalist manifesto was linked with the perpetrator that cited a “Hispanic invasion” of Texas. The shooter said that his beliefs predated President Trump’s rise.
Meanwhile, the shooter in Dayton was reportedly an Elizabeth Warren supporter who advocated for gun control, socialism, and tearing down border barriers, but that connection has received little media attention.
Incidentally, President Trump also confused the location of the Dayton shooting. In a speech at the White House on Monday, Trump mistakenly referred to a shooting in Toledo, Ohio.
Biden continues to gaffe
The 76-year-old Biden, dubbed “Sleepy Joe” by President Trump, has made numerous public gaffes on the campaign trail. At the end of his second primary debate, Biden cryptically told debate watchers to “go to Joe 30330.” The Democrat confused a number for donors to text with his campaign website.
“In case you missed last night’s debate, Joe meant to say to ‘Text Joe to 30330’ but left a word out. Oops,” his campaign said the next day.
During the debate, Biden also pressed that the country could not tolerate “eight more years” of President Trump. (Trump would be limited to at most five more years if he serves two terms in office.) And in May, Biden confused Britain’s former Prime Minister Theresa May with Reagan-era PM Margaret Thatcher, who stepped down in 1990.
The Democrat’s numerous slip-ups, along with a lightweight campaign marked by relatively infrequent public events, have raised speculation that he is too old to seek the presidency. If he were to win in 2020, the Democrat would be the oldest president ever elected.
However, Biden continues to command a comfortable lead in polling, especially after rival Kamala Harris (D-CA) stumbled in the latest round of debates.
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