US President Joe Biden has been mocked online after saying that Democrats “went to 54 states” in 2018 to defend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
The blunder made by the 46th US president at a Philadelphia rally to attract support for Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, infuriated a number of Conservatives, including Ryan Fournie, founder of the Students for Trump group, who described POTUS as a “completely senile guy.”
Republican House candidate Lauren Boebert tweeted, “Biden now says there are 54 states. I guess if you count the states of denial, confusion, delusion and disaster that his Regime has caused he just might be on to something.”
“Cali conservative” Pamela Hensley, for her part, wondered in her Twitter post whether Biden created “4 new states with all the illegals he let in.”
A similar tone was struck by many netizens, with one noting that they “remember Obama saying there’s 57 states, so it’s a step [by Biden] in the right direction”.
Another user pointed out, “It’s an embarrassment that he [Biden]’s in a position of power, much less the most powerful position in the World. He’s an absolute joke.”
One more netizen went further by tweeting, “Joe Biden said he has visited all 54 states, which presumably include Depression, Panic, Anxiety, and Unbelief.”
POTUS’ “54 states” blunder is the latest in a string of gaffes that 79-year-old Biden, the oldest president in US history, has made over the past few years. Just last week, the president seemingly zoned out when asked by a reporter whether his wife Jill Biden wanted him to run for a second term.
“I have not made that formal decision but it's my intention to run again. And we have time to make that decision. […] Dr. Biden thinks that uh, my wife thinks that uh, that I uh, that we're doing something very important”, POTUS said.
In a separate gaffe, Biden mispronounced the name of new UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, calling the 42-year-old “Rashee Sanook”.
The mistake followed an incident this past summer, when wrapping up his speech in Seattle, the US president said goodbye to his audience and turned around, appearing to extend his hand for a handshake in thin air, in a bizarre repeat of what had happened a week earlier.
At the time, Biden finished his speech on infrastructure reform in North Carolina and turned his back on the stage, holding out his hand for a handshake, although there was no one standing near him.