Staff Reports
President Joe Biden faced an embarrassing moment when he seemed to rely on a teleprompter for prompting rather than speaking naturally. At the North America’s Building Trade Union National Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Biden began by encouraging the audience to imagine the possibilities of another term in the White House, but then hesitated and said, “Pause.” This prompted a chant of “four more years” from the crowd, which lasted about 20 seconds before Biden refocused the gathering, declaring that “we are ready to move forward, not back.”
Biden bungles stage direction and reads ‘pause’ off teleprompter before crowd chants ‘four more years’ https://t.co/lwi1uK3ZrS via @dcexaminer
— Tie Swindell (@mirtropolis) April 24, 2024
Biden’s apparent stumble did not go unnoticed by his likely opponent in the upcoming election, former President Donald Trump. Trump’s campaign shared the clip and characterized Biden as “cognitively impaired,” drawing attention to Biden’s past instances of struggling with reading from a teleprompter.
These past instances include a 2022 White House event where Biden appeared to say, “End of quote. Repeat the line,” which the White House claimed was actually, “Let me repeat that line.” In another instance during an Oval Office address, Biden appeared to read a note from the teleprompter when he said, “Make it clear,” in the midst of his remarks about conflicts involving Russia and the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
Biden’s reliance on a teleprompter and his potential struggles with speaking spontaneously have raised concerns about his ability to lead the country effectively. This incident adds to a pattern of gaffes and flubs, highlighting the need for transparency and honesty from the president.
