President Biden has give you a brand new protection towards claims that he’s too previous to run for one more time period: At least he is aware of who his spouse is — versus “the opposite man.”
As he expands his efforts to reassure voters that he’s match for one more 4 years, Mr. Biden took a activate the discuss present circuit, utilizing an look on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” on NBC to poke his challenger, former President Donald J. Trump, on his personal struggles with reminiscence.
In a playful however pointed interview aired early Tuesday morning, Mr. Meyers sought to assist the president handle the age concern, which polls present is a crucial disadvantage within the minds of most voters. Mr. Meyers jokingly informed the president that he had obtained labeled info indicating that “you’re at the moment 81 years previous.”
Mr. Biden went together with the joke. “Who the hell informed you that?” he requested. “That’s labeled!”
He then went on to jab Mr. Trump, who’s 77, over a video during which he appears to name his spouse, Melania Trump, by one other identify. “You acquired to try the opposite man,” Mr. Biden stated. “He’s about as previous as I’m, however he can’t keep in mind his spouse’s identify.”
Turning extra critical, Mr. Biden added that the competition just isn’t about how previous the candidates are. “It’s about how previous your concepts are,” he stated. “Look, this can be a man who desires to take us again. He desires to take us again on Roe v. Wade. He desires to take us again on a complete vary of points which are — 50, 60 years, they’ve been strong American positions.”
The president has been on the defensive about his reminiscence in latest weeks, significantly since a particular counsel, in a report on Mr. Biden’s dealing with of labeled paperwork, defined that one cause he wouldn’t cost Mr. Biden is as a result of he would come throughout to a jury as a “well-meaning, aged man with a poor reminiscence.” During his interview with the particular counsel, the report stated, Mr. Biden couldn’t keep in mind key dates of his vice presidency or the yr his son Beau died. Mr. Biden’s defenders assailed the particular counsel for mentioning that.
Mr. Trump has had loads of moments of confusion in latest weeks as effectively. Among different issues, he has combined up his Republican opponent Nikki Haley with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, claimed to have overwhelmed Barack Obama in 2016 fairly than Hillary Clinton and warned that the nation is on the verge of World War II.
The second Mr. Biden was referring to got here throughout a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland over the weekend when Mr. Trump was praising Mrs. Trump after which, because the viewers applauded, stated, “Oh, take a look at that, Mercedes — that’s fairly good.”
Mr. Meyers performed that clip earlier than Mr. Biden got here out on the present, mocking Mr. Trump for seeming to have forgotten Mrs. Trump’s identify. But Mr. Trump was addressing Mercedes Schlapp, a former White House adviser whose husband, Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, hosts the convention, in line with the previous president’s spokesman, Steven Cheung. “The clips had been taken out of context by disingenuous individuals,” Mr. Cheung stated.
Still, Mr. Trump has prior to now misspelled Melania’s identify on Twitter as “Melanie.” And throughout a deposition within the defamation case introduced by E. Jean Carroll, Mr. Trump mistakenly recognized an image of Ms. Carroll as Marla Maples, his second spouse. A jury discovered that Mr. Trump sexually abused Ms. Carroll within the Nineties, and a separate jury ordered him to pay $83.3 million for defaming her.
Mr. Biden joined Mr. Meyers to have fun the tenth anniversary of the late-night present, a decade after showing on this system’s debut episode in 2014 when he was vice chairman. It was Mr. Biden’s fourth look on a late-night discuss present since changing into president. He was a visitor of Jimmy Fallon in 2021, of Jimmy Kimmel in 2022 and on “The Daily Show” in 2023.
The viewers was an vital one for Mr. Biden, who relied on robust help amongst youthful voters to defeat Mr. Trump in 2020 and desires them once more regardless of surveys displaying disenchantment amongst that technology. But he slipped when requested about his 2024 agenda. “The 2020 agenda is to complete the job,” he stated.
Mr. Meyers requested the president in regards to the “Dark Brandon” meme that his youthful aides have promoted on-line, a laser-eyed model of the president meant to make him appear cool and hip. Asked if he enjoys the meme, Mr. Biden quipped, “No, I resent the hell out of it,” after which placed on Ray-Ban sun shades.
When Mr. Meyers famous that many on the political proper have embraced a weird conspiracy concept that he and Taylor Swift “are working in cahoots,” Mr. Biden playfully snapped: “Where are you getting this info? It’s labeled. That’s labeled info.”
“But,” he rapidly added, “I’ll inform you she did endorse me in 2020.”