Kamala Harris accidentally referred to Joe Biden as the ‘vice president,’ echoing a verbal gaffe her boss made earlier, during a July 4 event at the White House.
With many wondering if she could replace Biden as Democrats’ candidate for president were he to drop out, she was positively giddy while giving the speech.
She said: ‘We give thanks to our commander-in-chief, the vice – the president of the United States! The extraordinary President of the United States Joe Biden!’
Biden then took in the applause from the Washington crowd and wished everyone a happy Independence Day amid calls for him to step down by many of his fellow Democrats.
The brief error was similar to one that Biden himself had made in an interview with a black radio station in Philadelphia.
The gaffe-prone president, 81, stumbled over his words during Thursday’s interview with Philadelphia’s WURD, seemingly mixing himself up with his Vice President Kamala Harris. He ended up referring to himself as a black woman in a clip that has sparked further concern about his fitness for office.
‘By the way, I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first black woman… to serve with a black president. Proud to be involved of the first black woman on the Supreme Court. There’s so much that we can do because, look… we’re the United States of America.’
Biden appeared to be highlighting his appointment of Kamala Harris as the United States first black female vice president.
Confusingly, he himself was previously vice president, which is likely what he was referring to in ‘to serve with a black president.’
The reference to the Supreme Court concerns Ketanji Brown-Jackson, the first black female justice, who was appointed by Biden in 2022.
It was all smiles between Biden and Harris at the Fourth of July event at the White House Thursday evening.
Later, during evening fireworks, he stood on the balcony with his family, Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, in a clear show of support.
Harris at one point grabbed Biden’s hand and held it high in the air, and later the two hugged.
Biden on Thursday opened a critical stretch in his effort to salvage his imperiled reelection campaign, facing a growing sense that he may have just days to make a persuasive case that he is fit for office before Democratic support for him completely evaporates.
In the aftermath of Biden’s disastrous debate performance last week against Republican Donald Trump, some financial backers were holding off or canceling upcoming fundraisers, according to a person familiar with the plans who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to talk about private discussions.
‘I’m not going anywhere,’ Biden told a crowd gathered for a July Fourth barbecue on the White House South Lawn.
However, at that same event on the South Lawn, he continued to struggle when going off-script Thursday as he tried to insert a jab at former President Donald Trump into his Fourth of July remarks.
The president and first lady Jill Biden, alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, spoke to military families.
The 81-year-old is being heavily scrutinized after his car crash of a debate performance last Thursday, with a handful of Democratic lawmakers saying publicly they think Biden should bow out of the presidential race.
The White House has pointed to an upcoming interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos to prove Biden is able to speak off-the-cuff but he muddled his comments when he slid off the teleprompter Thursday.
‘By the way, you know I was at that World War I cemetery in France and a – the one that one of our colleagues, a former president, didn’t want to go and be up there,’ Biden said. ‘I probably shouldn’t even say that. Anyway,’ he continued, his voice going low.
At another point in the speech he again said, ‘by the way.’
‘I’ve been all over the world,’ he said, his voice dropping to a mumble. ‘I’ve been in and out of battles, anyway. You’re incredible,’ he told the military members and their families gathered on the South Lawn.
The president started greeted members of the crowd when he was told that his presence outside meant that more guests weren’t being let inside the White House gates.
Biden promised to come back and out and talk to people.
A supporter yelled, ‘keep up the fight. We need you.’
‘You got me man. I’m not going anywhere.’
There was a cloud over Thursday’s festivities – and it wasn’t just the pop-up shower in the late afternoon – as Biden’s political future hangs in the balance.
After Democratic governors expressed support – though tepidly at first – over the president’s decision to stay in the race, meeting attendees started leaking juicy details to the press.
Outside the friendly confines of the White House, it continued to be popular sentiment among liberal megadonors that Biden get out of the race.
Heiress and major Democrat donor Abigail Disney has announced she will stop donations Biden and the entire party until the ailing president steps down.
The granddaughter to Roy Disney, the co-founder of the Walt Disney Corporation, has often made noise for her liberal politics despite her wealth, which is believed to be around $120 million.
‘I intend to stop any contributions to the party unless and until they replace Biden at the top of the ticket. This is realism, not disrespect. Biden is a good man and has served his country admirably, but the stakes are far too high,’ she said in a statement.
The 64-year-old Disney’s announcement comes just a day after Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings became one of the first liberal megadonors to turn off the spigot until the president stands aside.
‘If Biden does not step down the Democrats will lose. Of that I am absolutely certain. The consequences for the loss will be genuinely dire,’ she continued.
Disney believes that the ‘excellent’ Vice President Kamala Harris is more than capable of topping the ticket.
A group of wealthy donors are also secretly plotting to start Next Generation PAC, a $50-100 million effort to support a Democrat nominee not named Joe Biden, according to the New York Times.
Next Generation PAC – founded by crypto billionaire Mike Novogratz – will hold its money until Biden’s resigns and give to his replacement on the ticket. Should he not get out of the race, they will focus on down-ballot Democrats but not to Biden.
While the committee hasn’t filed with the FEC, the Biden campaign has reportedly heard of it and tried to talk its backers into stopping.
It comes after the first elected Democrats came forward to urge Biden to step back, with just weeks to go before his party’s convention in Chicago.
With fury over White House messaging since Biden stumbled his way through his debate with Donald Trump in Atlanta , the president reassured governors in a private meeting about his health and political viability – even telling them about a recent check up that had him in good health.
That came shortly after White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged direct questions during a contentious press briefing about whether Biden had been evaluated since Thursday’s debate .