Biden torched for claiming that he recently met with dead former President of France: 'Not a healthy sign'

Ex-French President Francois Mitterrand died in 1996

Biden tells crowd he recently met with Mitterrand, former French president who died in 1996

François Mitterrand served as France’s president between 1981 and 1995.

President Biden is being criticized online after he claimed that he met with Francois Mitterrand, the former president of France who passed away roughly 30 years ago. 

Biden told an audience in Las Vegas on Sunday about a meeting he had with French President Emmanuel Macron during a G7 meeting in England after he had already assumed the presidency. 

"I sat down and I said, ‘America’s back,’" Biden recalled. "And Mitterrand from Germany – I mean from France – looked at me and said…" 

BIDEN TELLS CROWD HE RECENTLY MET WITH MITTERRAND, FORMER FRENCH PRESIDENT WHO DIED IN 1996

President Joe Biden and Francois Mitterand split image

President Biden is being criticized online after he claimed that he met with Francois Mitterrand, the former president of France who passed away nearly 30 years ago.  (Getty Images)

François Mitterrand was France's president between 1981 and 1995. He died in 1996. 

Biden appeared to trail off before collecting his thoughts to finish the sentence: "Well, how long are you back for?" 

Biden was mocked for his flub online, with politicians and commentators asking what was wrong with the president. 

"Was Biden the kid in The Sixth Sense?" Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas., jokingly asked, referencing the 1999 horror movie. 

Show host Graham Allen said that Biden's mistaken claim that he met with a dead French president recently was "not a healthy sign." 

Popular X account Libs of TikTok wrote that the clip was a sign of "elder abuse." 

"We’re stuck in a 1980s loop forever and I’m not even mad," political commentator Peachy Keenan wrote. 

BIDEN BLASTED FOR HIS ‘BEST GIBBERISH YET’ IN WISCONSIN BREWERY SPEECH: ‘DIFFERENT LANGUAGE’

Biden's comments came while he was warning of the dangers of a potential second Trump presidency ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Nevada. 

The president continued, saying the "Chancellor of Germany" asked him how he – and by extension, the U.S. – would respond if, hypothetically, thousands of people stormed Britain’s House of Commons and killed two "bobbies," or British police officers, to stop the election of a Prime Minister. 

The Hill later flagged that the White House, which posted Biden's comments online, released the speech with the name Mitterrand crossed out and replaced with Macron, the current president of France. 

Biden in Wisconsin

Biden has been known to make numerous gaffes in speeches, including a recent speech in January where Biden appeared to make nearly unintelligible remarks about beer.  (Screenshot/Biden speech)

Biden has been known to make numerous gaffes, including during a recent speech in January where Biden appeared to make nearly unintelligible remarks about beer. 

Partway through his remarks at a speech in Wisconsin, Biden appeared to mumble, "The beer brewed here, it is used to make the brew beered here." While most of the sentence was unintelligible, he seemed to add, "Ooh, Earth Rider, thanks for the Great Lakes. I wonder why…" 

The Biden campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Fox News' Bradford Betz and Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.

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Jeffrey Clark is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. He has previously served as a speechwriter for a cabinet secretary and as a Fulbright teacher in South Korea. Jeffrey graduated from the University of Iowa in 2019 with a degree in English and History. 

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Authored by Jeffrey Clark via FoxNews February 6th 2024