Politics
Awkward moment Biden appears to FORGET Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s name as he calls him ‘the guy over there’
PRESIDENT Joe Biden on Monday appeared to forget the name of his defense secretary and resorted to saying “the guy who runs that outfit over there.”
Biden, 78, was announcing the nomination of two female generals to lead American military combatant commands when he forgot Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s name.
President Joe Biden referred to Defense Secretary Austin Lloyd as ‘the guy who runs that outfit over there’[/caption]
“And I want to thank the sec – the, the, ah former general. I keep calling him general, but my, my – the guy who runs that outfit over there,” Biden said.
The president also seemed to forget the name of the Pentagon, which he called “that outfit.”
Biden continued: “I want to make sure we thank the secretary for all he’s done to try to implement what we just talked about, and for recommending these two women for promotion.”
He did say the defense secretary’s name, “Secretary Austin,” earlier during the event while reading a teleprompter.
President Joe Biden said ‘Secretary Austin’ while reading from a teleprompter earlier in the event[/caption]
It is not the first time Biden has forgotten important names or had other gaffes.
In December, Biden gave the wrong pronunciation for Xavier Becerra, his nominee for the Department of Health and Human Services, and later corrected himself.
Biden also seemed to forget President Donald Trump’s name during a virtual event in October, confusing him with former President George Bush.
Trump then dunked Biden by tweeting, “Joe Biden called me George yesterday. Couldn’t remember my name name.”
Most read in News
Biden in March also seemed to forgot the name of former President Barack Obama, whom he served as vice president under from 2009 to 2017.
The event on Monday was dedicated to nominating Army Lt Gen Laura Richardson to lead the US Southern Command and Air Force General Jacqueline Van Ovost to head the US Transportation Command.
They would be the second and third women to have such high ranking roles, after Air Force Gen Lori Robinson who lead the US Northern Command from 2016 to 2018.
