Biden makes joke about himself being 'stupid' - then gets congressman's name ... trends now
President Joe Biden on Thursday accused Republicans of wanting to cause 'chaos' in the country, raising his voice to a shout to make his point, but he fumbled his message at the start when he called a well-known local congressman by the wrong name.
He referred to Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia, who represents the area in Congress as 'Doug' at least four times during his speech - three times at the start and then later in his remarks. Beyer, before he was elected to Congress, was famous locally as the owner of a large car dealership. Ads featuring him ran on the local airwaves.
Ironically, right before his blunder, Biden joked about his critics calling him 'stupid.' The president - whose tendency to be loquacious has led to many a verbal fumble - told the audience to sit and then noted: 'When I was seeking the nomination, I said, take a seat everybody and there wasn't a single chair in the place and they said that Biden really is stupid.'
President Joe Biden made some verbal fumbles at the start of his speech on Thursday
Democratic Rep. Don Beyer stands during Biden's remarks - Biden called him 'Doug' several times in his speech
Biden then asked 'where's Doug?' as he addressed a small crowd at Steamfitters Local 602 United Association Mechanical Trades School in Springfield, Virginia.
He looked around several times, trying to spot who he was calling out for. Beyer seem clued in that the president wanted him when Biden said 'Congressman - he's right here somewhere.'
'Oh, there you are,' Biden said when Beyer stood up in the audience. And then he repeated his error: 'Doug, thanks for the passport.'
Biden appears to have met Beyer before. The congressman was at the White House, on stage with the president, in May when Biden signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act into law.
Biden also used Beyer to make one of his favorite jokes, noting: 'Doug and I have something in common. We both married way above our station.'
He also complimented him: 'Congressman Beyer, you've been doing a great job for this district and you are one of the best in the country. You really are. I don't want to ruin his reputation, but we vote a lot like.'
Beyer tweeted the clip of the above quote, where Biden called him Congressman Beyer.
'Thanks for the kind words Mr. President!,' wrote Beyer, who's been in Congress for seven years. 'Thrilled to hear @POTUS talk in Springfield today about the great economic news we've gotten recently, how we can keep making progress, and why we should reject Republican plans to cut Social Security and raise prices for working people.'
Overall, however, the president used his remarks to go after Republicans for trying to roll back his economic and social policies and for opposing raising the minimum wage and helping reduce the price of prescription drugs.
'We've got to protect those gains that our policies have generated - protect them from the MAGA Republicans in the House of Representatives threatening to destroy this progress,' he said in what the White House billed as his first major economic speech of the year.
President Joe Biden with Congressman Don Beyer (standing at the right in the back) during a May ceremony at the White House
Beyer tweeted about the speech - but not about being called the wrong name
The litany of attacks are part of a leadup to Biden's campaign announcement, which is expected to come after his State of the Union address on February 7th.
'They seem determined to be the party of chaos and catastrophe,' he said of Republicans.
He is laying the foundation to announce he's running for re-election by touting his work on the economy, blasting his political enemies in the GOP and courting wealthy Democrat donors to fill his campaign coffers.
'They view the world from Park Avenue,' he said of Republicans, repeating one of his favorite attack lines that Republicans favor the wealthy.
At times, Biden raised his vote to a shout as he railed against the GOP, who he claims want to hurt the lower and middle class while elevating the rich. He also used an old tactic - dropping to a whisper to emphasize a point.
He slammed the Republicans repeatedly as he spoke to union workers.
'They want to raise your gas prices. They want to cut taxes for billionaires,' Biden said. 'They want to impose a 30 percent national sales tax.'
And he vowed to veto. 'Not on my watch, I will veto everything they send us,' he said.
'I will veto them,' he vowed in a whisper, after he
