Alarming footage appears to show President Biden forgetting Hamas’ name when asked about hostages held in Gaza
President Biden has sparked fresh alarm by appearing to get lost during his latest press conference — even forgetting the name Hamas.
The oldest-ever US president was asked a question Tuesday about the ongoing hostage negotiations between the terrorist group and Israel, after delivering a speech promoting the new border security bill.
“There is some movement, and I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna …,” the 81-year-old commander-in-chief said, pausing to stare blankly ahead.
“Let me choose my words — there’s some movement, there’s been … a response from the, uh…,” he said, again pausing while looking ahead with the same lost look.
“There’s been a response … from … the opposition, but, um —” he said.
Sounding confused about what he was supposed to say, Biden suddenly looked up to his left while getting much-needed guidance.
“Yes, I’m sorry, from Hamas,” he said of the terror group behind the war with Israel, a key US ally.
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who is challenging the president for the Democratic nomination, was among those unable to contain their horror at the footage.
“I’m attacked for being honest and saying the quiet part out loud — the part DC insiders only do in private,” he posted on X.
“I admire our President. I voted for him and campaigned for him. He has visited my home and been gracious to my family and our country.
“But shame on all of you pretending everything is OK,” Phillips continued. “You are leading us — and him — into a disaster, and you damn well know it.”
Sky News’ US correspondent Mark Stone also called the apparent gaffe “quite a stark moment.
“It was quite clear that he could not remember the word ‘Hamas’ and had to be prompted by a member of the media who was there in the White House,” Stone told his UK network.
“This is not the first time — so many times over the past few years, he has stumbled on his words, and I think people, right or wrong, see it as more than just a problem with a stutter,” he noted.
“This is happening a lot and I think it is, you know, a reflection of his age.”
“There are so many people in America and beyond that are concerned that this is a man who is not going to be capable of fighting this brutal election that is upcoming.”
Biden is already the oldest president to serve in office, and if he were elected to serve another four years, Biden would leave office at the age of 86.
But, Stone noted, “the guy he is likely to fight, Donald Trump … is elderly and also seems to be mixing things up.
“So on both sides, we have elderly men who are the front-runners to be the next president of the United States — quite a state of affairs.”