President Joe Biden claimed during a rally in Detroit, Michigan, on Friday that the news media has “been hammering” him since his performance at the presidential debate weeks ago.
While speaking to a crowd at Renaissance High School, Biden said he “sometimes” mixes up the names of people. Biden’s comments come a day after he held a solo press conference where he mistakenly referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as former President Donald Trump and mistakenly introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“You may have noticed since the debate, the press, and they’re good guys and women up there, they’ve been hammering me,” Biden said as the crowd began to boo. “I make a lot of mistakes.”
“They’ve been hammering me because I sometimes confuse names,” Biden added. “I say, ‘That’s Charlie’ instead of ‘Bill.’ Well, guess what? Donald Trump has gotten a free pass.”
Biden crowd begins booing reporters during this riff.
“The press has been hammering me because I sometimes confuse names. I say that’s Charlie instead of Bill. pic.twitter.com/AVC7n9R0zj
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) July 13, 2024
Several people responded to Biden’s comment by pointing out that Biden’s comments mirrored Trump’s “fake news” comments about the mainstream media.
“You might say that they’re ‘fake news,’” Ryan Girdusky, a journalist and author wrote in a post on X.
You might say that they’re “fake news” https://t.co/ua3jOYLk3y
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) July 13, 2024
“The president went looking around a crowd for a dead congresswoman he’d already mourned,” Peter Hasson, an editor with the Washington Free Beacon wrote. “Does the crowd know that? In all seriousness, do they know that? It’s an indictment of CNN/MSNBC if not.”
The president went looking around a crowd for a dead congresswoman he’d already mourned. Does the crowd know that? In all seriousness, do they know that? It’s an indictment of CNN/MSNBC if not https://t.co/8rQD9rLMJG
— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) July 13, 2024
“Bizzaro world if you think Donald Trump has gotten a free pass and blame the press for that and their critiques of your cognitive ability,” Peter Towey, the vice president of Targeted Victory wrote. “This guys never dropping out.”
Bizzaro world if you think Donald Trump has gotten a free pass and blame the press for that and their critiques of your cognitive ability. This guys never dropping out. https://t.co/y2Ece8CyeY
— Peter Towey (@petermtowey) July 13, 2024
“Biden co-opting Trump’s anti-media message in a major swing state,” Executive Director of the American Conservative Curt Mills wrote. “Nothing to see here!”
Biden co-opting Trump’s anti media message in a major swing state. Nothing to see here! https://t.co/WK9HLUU865
— Curt Mills (@CurtMills) July 13, 2024
Since the June 27 presidential debate, Biden has faced increasing calls from donors and Democrats to withdraw from the presidential election and “step aside” to allow for a different candidate to run.
Reed Hastings, a Democrat megadonor and the co-founder of Netflix has been among those who have come out calling for Biden to “step aside.” George Clooney also recently came out in an op-ed revealing that he did not believe Biden could win the presidential election in November, weeks after holding a fundraiser for him.
Despite receiving calls for him to withdraw from the presidential race, Biden has continued to maintain that he is not dropping out of the race.