Biden stumbles over geography for second time in a week
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President Biden is floundering in the oceans of the world.
The 80-year-old commander-in-chief mixed up his geography for the second time in six days Wednesday night while addressing the League of Conservation Voters’ annual dinner in Washington.
“We have plans to build a railroad from the Pacific all the way across the Indian Ocean,” the president declared.
“We have plans to build in — in Angola one of the largest solar plants in the world,” Biden added before reeling himself in. “I can go on, but I’m not. I’m going off-script. I’m going to get in trouble.”
Biden is a well-known train enthusiast, but constructing a railway line “across” the world’s third-largest ocean has never been on the agenda.
Biden made a similar gaffe last week during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
“We’re talking about building — and I had my team putting together with other countries as well — to build a railroad from the Pacific Ocean — from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Indian Ocean,” he said at the time, clumsily describing a proposal to construct a rail line crossing sub-Saharan Africa.
Africa is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean — not the Pacific, which is more than a thousand miles away from the nearest African coastline.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Biden’s rhetorical fumble, the latest in a series of gaffes that his allies have chalked up to a stutter, drew mockery online from right-wing critics.
“Who’s going to run that train, SpongeBob?” conservative columnist Ian Haworth tweeted in response to video of the mistake.
Who’s going to run that train, SpongeBob?
— Ian Haworth (@ighaworth) June 15, 2023“Put grandpa to bed,” added Abigail Marone, the communications director for Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).
“Bold initiative, Mr. President,” mocked former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah).
At 80, Biden is already the oldest president in US history. Should he win a second term and serve a full four years, he would be 86 upon leaving office.
Polls have noted unease about Biden’s age among Americans. A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, for instance, found that only 32% of voters believe the president possesses the mental sharpness needed to be commander-in-chief.
On Wednesday night, however, Biden racked up endorsements for his re-election bid from the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, NextGen PAC, and the Sierra Club.
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