President Biden reassured Americans Tuesday that there was reason to be optimistic about “2020” — mistakenly saying the wrong year four days into 2022.
Biden’s post-New Year’s gaffe came as the president urged people to keep wearing masks and get vaccinated for COVID-19 as the Omicron variant causes record-high numbers of infections.
“There’s a lot of reason to be hopeful in 2020. But for God’s sake, please take advantage of what is available,” the president said.
Biden’s political foes often claim he’s going senile and former President Donald Trump accused Biden of being “mentally shot” during the 2020 campaign.
Biden’s defenders says he’s simply prone to gaffes and point to decades of examples.
Biden, 79, is the oldest-ever president and his cognitive abilities increasingly are a topic of public debate.
Last month, Biden mistakenly referred to Kamala Harris, his vice president, as “President Harris” — repeating an error he made twice before.
Biden says he plans to run for a second term in 2024, but many Democrats don’t believe it and polls find broad concern about his mental acuity.
Biden would be 86 if he completes a second term.
A Politico/Morning Consult survey published in November found that 50 percent of registered voters disagreed with the statement “Joe Biden is in good health,” while only 40 percent agreed and 10 percent did not know or had no opinion.
The poll also found that 48 percent of voters disagreed with the statement “Joe Biden is mentally fit,” while 46 percent agreed and 6 percent did not know or had no opinion.
A Harvard-Harris poll found that 53 percent of voters have doubts about the president’s fitness while 47 percent do not. In addition, 58 percent of respondents said Biden was too old to be president, while 42 percent felt he was fit enough for the job.
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