Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer has questioned whether Joe Biden’s health is getting ‘worse’ following his latest public gaffe.
Fleischer appeared on Hannity on Friday where he was asked about the presumptive Democratic nominee’s latest blunder in which he confused the number of job losses in the US with the national Covid-19 death toll.
The 59-year-old, who served as former President George W. Bush’s press secretary, said he wondered whether Biden’s bumbling interview was just a minor slip of the tongue or a sign that his health is deteriorating.
‘There’s a serious element here where people kinda know this about Joe Biden. The real question is, is something going on here that’s getting worse?’ Fleischer told guest host Jason Chaffetz.
Ari Fleischer questioned whether Joe Biden’s latest gaffe was just a minor slip of the tongue or something more concerning
During a monologue about soaring unemployment levels on Thursday, Biden wrongly claimed 85,000 jobs have been lost in the US as a result of COVID-19, and millions of people have died
‘Lots of people get mixed up on words, get statistics or numbers wrong. It does happen. But is this really a feature of Joe Biden now that is getting worse or is this just a one-off that all of us sometimes have?’
Biden bumbled his way through a ‘virtual roundtable’ he hosted on Thursday afternoon, where he spoke about soaring unemployment levels.
He wrongly claimed 85,000 jobs have been lost in the US as a result of COVID-19, and millions of Americans have died.
In reality, at least 85,000 Americans have died, while 36.5million have lost their jobs.
During the interview with Fleischer jokingly emphasized the fact that Biden’s blunder couldn’t be blamed on exhaustion from travelling on the campaign trail because of the coronavirus lockdowns.
He also lamented the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has denied Americans the chance to see their presidential candidates go head-to-head on the campaign trail.
‘And this is where I do regret the fact that all the candidates are stuck at home,’ he added.
Speaking on Hannity, Fleischer lamented the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has denied Americans the chance to see their presidential candidates go head-to-head on the campaign trail
‘It is only right and proper for the American people to see these people in the thick of a campaign where their mettle is tested. Let’s see what Joe Biden’s got. Let’s see if this is just minor things.’
‘The campaign should test that. We want all our candidates to be seen and tested.’
Concern of Biden’s mental sharpness has been the subject of constant debate ever since he launched his White House bid last April, following a number of blunders he’s made during televised interviews and campaign speeches in the months since.
And the self-proclaimed ‘gaffe machine’ did little to mitigate those apprehensions during his speech on Thursday.
‘We’re … in the middle of a pandemic that has cost us more than 85,000 jobs as of today. Lives of millions of people. Millions of people. Millions of jobs,’ a tongue tied Biden almost unintelligibly babbled at the beginning of the stream.
‘You know, and we’re in a position where, you know we just got new unemployment insurance, this morning, uh, numbers — 36.5 million claims since this crisis began.
Much like his other livestreamed events, the broadcast was also marred with technical difficulties and audio glitches, but for the most part Biden managed to reign in the gaffes.
Concern of Biden’s mental sharpness has been the subject of constant debate ever since he launched his White House bid last April
President Trump has routinely poked fun at Biden regarding his well-documented stumbles and slips-of-the-tongue, suggesting the Democrat is mentally unfit to hold office.
Last week, in response to Biden teaming up with former rival Bernie Sanders to name Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez co-chairwoman of a climate change panel, Trump said: ‘If you asked him who he named, he wouldn’t even know it… Joe has absolutely no idea what’s happening.’
When quizzed about the prospect of Biden leading the economic recovery if he’s elected in November, Trump said: ‘Biden can’t do it. He doesn’t know he’s alive.’
Another question raised against Biden in recent weeks is who he will announce as his running mate for his 2020 White House bid.
During Thursday’s roundtable, Biden was joined via video by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont to discuss the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.