While sitting down for a recent interview with Black Entertainment Television (BET), President Biden appeared to forget the name of his Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin. While speaking about Austin, it seemed as if Biden could not produce his name, referring to him as a “black man” during a discussion about Biden’s various appointments of black individuals throughout his administration.
Following Biden’s debacle during the presidential debate late last month, he has been making numerous public appearances and giving interviews to recover ground amid the ongoing calls for him to drop out of the race. However, these efforts have seemingly failed as Biden further demonstrates signs of declining mental acuity.
During the interview with the black television network, Biden said, “It’s all about treating people with dignity.” The president continued, “I named the secretary of defense, a Black man.” Notably, Biden paused before mentioning the secretary of defense position, where some have suggested he was struggling to remember Austin’s name. Biden further stated, “I named Ketanji Brown,” referring to his appointment of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in 2022, the first black woman on the Supreme Court.
The response on social media has been split. Some argue that Biden was unable to recall his appointment to the secretary of defense position, while others suggest it was intentional for him not to refer to Austin by name. However, it would not be the first time Biden ostensibly forgot Austin’s name; in March, he referred to him as “the guy who runs that outfit over there.”
Conservative commentator And Ngo wrote, “In the BET interview to woo black voters, President Biden appears to forget the name of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. He struggles for a moment and says, “the black man.” However, journalist Ken Klippenstein offered a different point of view, stating, “I think people are misconstruing this clip. If you listen closely, Biden seems to say “the secretary of defense, a black man” not “the black man”; and the context is he’s listing his black appointees.”
Biden Campaign Senior Spokesperson Sarafina Chitika gave a statement to Fox News Digital, discussing the BET interview. “On Tuesday, President Biden talked at length about the importance of Black America, the historic ways he has delivered for Black communities, and his proactive vision to stand up for civil rights, grow an economy where hard work pays off, and make housing more affordable. Meanwhile at the RNC, Donald Trump and his MAGA allies doubled down on extremism, division, and their Project 2025 agenda, making it clear that they are only interested in helping billionaires while turning Americans against each other. The choice couldn’t be more clear,” Chitika said.
Biden also stated in the interview that he had a medical condition that would impact his ability to serve. “If I had some medical condition that emerged, the doctors came and said you’ve got this problem, that problem. But I made a serious mistake in the whole debate and, look, when I originally ran, you might remember it, I said I was going to be a transitional candidate. I thought that I would be able to move from this, to pass it on to somebody else. But I didn’t anticipate things getting so, so, so divided.”
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Watch the clip where Biden appears to have forgotten Lloyd Austin’s name below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.