When reporters pressed Joe Biden two weeks ago about his increasing propensity to confuse individuals’ names, a visibly irritated Biden said, “My memory is fine.” Unfortunately, he has done it again recently. This most recent gaffe is probably the most humiliating one.
On Thursday, the US president met with the widow of Alexei Navalny, an opponent of Vladimir Putin, who passed away. Meeting “Yolanda” was a privilege, Mr. Biden told reporters afterwards.
She goes by the name Yulia.
Although I have my suspicions, nobody knows for sure where he got the name Yolanda. American audiences know Yolanda Hadid best as a star of the popular reality show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. They are both beautiful, tall, blonde women, and they look very similar to one other. No one knows whether the president is a regular viewer. I really hope he didn’t confuse them throughout the meeting. Greetings, Yolanda. The show is fantastic. How is everything going in Beverly Hills? Have you ever spent time with Paris Hilton?
Regardless, it’s a very astounding mistake. The woman’s name slipped his mind just minutes after they parted ways.
For the third time this month, Mr. Biden has made an embarrassing gaffe while speaking on camera. Two mistakes in three words—”Mitterrand from Germany”—was his first remark on French President Emmanuel Macron. President Mitterrand died the next year after resigning in 1995.
After that, Mr. Biden referred to Angela Merkel as “Helmut Kohl,” which was a mispronunciation of both her name and gender. After leaving office in 1998, Chancellor Kohl passed away in 2017.