Chris Lange, FISM News
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With the midterms only days away and the Democrats’ grip on power slipping steadily in the polls, the Biden administration has pivoted away from its focus on abortion and transgender rights to revive an old Democratic campaign staple.
The White House on Tuesday issued a Fact Sheet claiming that Republicans plan to gut Medicare and Social Security if they gain Congressional majorities next week.
President Biden has largely stayed away from the campaign trail, opting instead to let his former boss rally the party’s base. He did, however, make a stop at a South Florida community center on Tuesday, where he told a sparse crowd that Medicare and Social Security are “under siege” by Republicans.
“You’ve been paying into Social Security your whole life, you earned it, now these guys want to take it away,” Biden said, referring to Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott’s “Rescue America” plan that would periodically require a review and reauthorization of all federal legislation — a plan panned by many conservatives and outright dismissed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
“Who in the hell do they think they are?” Biden demanded sharply.
Gaffes and missteps overshadow speech
It wasn’t Biden’s salty language that drew attention to his speech, however. Shortly after, social media lit up with users who pointed out several gaffes and bizarre claims made by the president, drawing both ridicule and concern about his fitness for office.
One remark that quickly gained steam occurred when Biden blamed inflation in the U.S. on the “war in Iraq.” He then corrected himself to say “Ukraine,” adding that he thought of Iraq “because that’s where my son died.” Biden’s eldest son, Beau, did serve in Iraq. However, his tragic death from brain cancer occurred in Maryland, six years after his deployment had ended.
The president also incorrectly claimed that inflation in the U.S. is the “lowest in the world.” He then tried to explain soaring costs with what many described as a “word salad.”
“That’s what I call inflation,” he said. “The end of the month. What you have left. You have no money. That’s inflation. What’s, what do you, the things you need? Are they going up? They are. They are.”
Biden: "That's what I call inflation. The end of the month. What you have left. You have no money. That's inflation. What's, what do you, the things you need. Are they going up? They are. They are." pic.twitter.com/2QMsYQ2USO
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 1, 2022
Another perceived misstep that received a great deal of attention on social media came during a portion of the speech in which Biden was touting his administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, which includes a price cap on insulin.
“Do you know how much it costs to make that insulin drug for diabetes? … It was invented by a man who did not patent it because he wanted it available for everyone. I spoke to him, OK?” Biden said.
The New York Post, along with social media users, noted that Dr. Frederick Banting and professor John James Richard Macleod discovered insulin in 1921. Both refused to be named on the patent, and both died before Biden was born. The article points out, however, that Biden may have been referring to one of two additional doctors involved in the discovery, both of whom were alive after his birth, though the names of both are, in fact, listed in the patent.
Other remarks that received attention included the President’s reference to Democratic Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz as “Senator,” and calling Hurricane Ian “Ivan.”
The speech came just a day after Biden said during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania that the U.S. has “54 states” instead of 50. A video of that portion of the speech quickly went viral.
Biden’s critics appear ready to pounce on any perceived blunder, in much the same way former President Trump’s detractors were equally quick to point out gaffes and errors in his speeches. But the increasing frequency with which the current president appears to be confused has served to underscore growing bipartisan concern that he is neither cognitively nor physically fit to handle the rigors of serving as the nation’s commander in chief.