During a press conference to announce his upcoming trip to the southern border this weekend, President Joe Biden referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as "President Harris." The gaffe, which has happened multiple times before, was widely criticized on Twitter.
Biden confirmed his Sunday trip to El Paso, Texas during Thursday's announcement and outlined his administration's new immigration policies. During the speech, Biden referred to the vice-president as "President Harris" while speaking to the work she has done on the border in recent years.
"President Harris led this effort, led this effort to make this better in the countries from which they are leaving," Biden remarked. "Thanks to her leadership, she's been able to generate more than $3.2 billion from the private sector to create jobs and opportunities in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala."
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Twitter was swift to point out the mistake, and criticized Biden for the repeated gaffe.
"Biden STRUGGLED today in his press conference," tweeted Congressman-elect Ronny Jackson. "He called Kamala, 'President Harris." It was a DISASTER."
"It's time for Joe to retire," tweeted ACT for America Chairman and author Bridgette Gabriel.
Former New Yorker financial page writer James Surowiecki said the gaffe was reminiscent of President Trump referring to Rep. Kevin McCarthy as "Steve."
Legal scholar and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley tweeted that the president appeared to be struggling during the press conference.
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"After referring to ‘President Harris’, he said the seizure of ‘more than 20,000 pounds of deadly fentanyl...[is] enough to kill as many as a 1,000 people,'" Turley tweeted.
"...Just 15,000 pounds is enough to kill every American," he followed up, along with a link to a press release from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's outlining the sharp rise in "fentanyl-related mass-overdose events."
In December 2020, Biden mistakenly referred to Harris as "president-elect" during a speech on COVID vaccines, and in March 2021 he referred to her as "President Harris" when providing an update on the vaccination effort.
In January and October of last year, Biden once again referred to the vice-president as "President Harris."
