President Joe Biden appeared to stumble over naming Hamas when delivering a speech urging Congress to pass the border security and foreign aid bill released this week.
Speaking from the White House, Biden blasted former President Donald Trump for the growing opposition toward the $118.3 billion deal, which was a compromise by Senate lawmakers and the White House after months of negotiation.
Answering a question after his speech about how a hostage deal can be reached, Biden said, “This indirectly has a lot to do with the hostage deal and what’s going on in the Middle East — the decision on what we do relative to Israel, the decision what we do or in terms of American funding of whether we’re going to engage with the situation in Ukraine.”
Biden continued, seemingly forgetting the name of Hamas, the militant group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
“There is some movement, and I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna, let me choose my words — there’s some movement. There’s been a response from the, uh, there’s been a response from the opposition, but um,” Biden said.
A reporter chimed in, telling the president, “Hamas?”
“Yes, I’m sorry — from Hamas,” Biden said in response to the reporter speaking up. “But it seems to be a little over the top. We’re not sure where it is. There’s a continuing negotiation right now.”
Biden’s opponents were quick to highlight his verbal slip-up, adding to a growing list of gaffes that have sparked debates about the president’s mental fitness and ability to serve a second term.
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“Lights are on but no one is home,” Trump’s campaign said on X, quoting a clip of the mix-up.
As Biden moves further into his reelection campaign, a majority of voters, 76%, have major or moderate concerns about the president’s age and mental and physical health. A national NBC News poll released Tuesday shows those concerns are held by 54% of his voter Democratic base.
