On Sunday, Joe Biden claimed that in 2021, he had a conversation with François Mitterrand, who was president of France from 1981 to 1995 and died in 1996.
"You know, right—right after I was elected, I went to what they call a G7 meeting—all the NATO leaders. And it was in—it was in the south of England. And I sat down and I said, 'America is back,'” he began. "And Mitterrand, from Germany — I mean, from France looked at me and said — said, 'You know, what — why — how long you back for?'"
Biden continued, "And I looked at him, and the — and the Chancellor of Germany said, 'What would you say, Mr. President, if you picked up the paper tomorrow in the London Times, and London Times said, 'A thousand people break through the House of Commons, break down the doors, two Bobbies are killed in order to stop the election of the prime minister.' What would you say?"
On Wednesday, Biden told the same story again, this time apparently thinking that he had spoken with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl—who died in 2017.
And he made the same mistake twice, at two different events.
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) February 8, 2024
Here's what Biden said at the first event, according to the (unedited) press pool report:
First got elected president I went to a G7 meeting with 7 heads of state in Europe and I sat down and said Americas back. And president of France looked at me and said - for how long?
And I never thought of it this way. And then Helmut Kohl of Germany looked at me and said what would you say Mr President if you picked up the London times tomorrow morning and learned there's 1000 broken down the doors of the British parliament. Killed some (?) on the way in. to deny the next prime minister to take office. And you think, what would we think?
And here's the (unedited) pool report from the second event:
It's interesting to hear the first meeting I attended as president of the united states, it was in Great Britian. I showed up...and I sat down and said "America's back" and macron looked at me and said for how long? How long? Not a joke.
And with that. (inaudible) Helmut kohl said, Joe what would you think if you picked up the phone and picked up the paper tomorrow and learned in the London times on the front page that 1000 people stormed the parliament, broke down the doors of the House of Commons and killed 2 bobbies in the process and trying to stop the election of a prime minister. I thought about that. And I mean this sincerely, think about it. What would you think if another country, not nearly as powerful as us...
Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy attempted to get an explanation from White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about the first incident when he claimed to have spoken with François Mitterrand in 2021, but she didn't even try to come up with any spin.
“I’m not even going to go down that rabbit hole with you, sir,” an exasperated Jean-Pierre told him.
“What is the rabbit hole? He said he talked to Mitterrand," Doocy replied.
“You saw the president in Vegas, in California. You’ve seen the president in South Carolina. You saw him in Michigan," she bit back, as if that addressed the substance of the question. "I’ll just leave it there."
“How is that a rabbit hole?” Doocy asked, but Jean-Pierre went on to another reporter.
No wonder Biden isn't doing the Super Bowl interview.
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