Joe Biden's Gaffe-Filled Speeches Spark Ridicule

President Joe Biden has been mocked online after making two gaffe-ridden speeches in which he mistakenly suggested the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel took place 65 years ago and he described Deng Xiaoping, who has been dead for more than two decades, as the leader of China.

The president made the first set of remarks on Monday during an event in the White House celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. Addressing attendees Biden said: "But we know this year's Hanukkah's different. It's been 65 years since the deadliest day of the Jewish people since the Holocaust. 65 years." Biden appeared to be trying to say it was 65 days since the attack, which would have been accurate.

The president went on to make clear he had been referring to Hamas' mass assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people and saw another 240 taken to Gaza as hostages. He continued: "After October 7, my father, a father, returned to his kibbutz to salvage what was left of his home. What was left was rubble and ruin."

And while visiting a wind tower producer in Colorado on November 29, Biden appeared to confuse Chinese President Xi Jinping with Xiaoping, who ruled the country between 1978 and 1989.

He said: "I've said this to Deng Xiaoping in the Himalayas, and I've said this to every world leader: It's never, never, never been a good bet to bet against the American people." According to The South China Morning Post, the White House transcript was later edited to Xi Jinping, but this didn't stop the original footage being widely shared on Chinese social media.

Republicans have focused heavily on the mental acumen of the 81-year-old Biden, who is seeking a second White House term in November 2024.

A poll conducted for Newsweek in August found 75 percent of Democrats were either "very concerned," "fairly concerned" or "slightly concerned" about Biden's age impacting his performance, with just 22 percent saying they weren't concerned at all.

Biden's comments during the two events sparked a wave of mockery on X, formerly Twitter, with businessman Arnaud Bertrand sharing screenshots of both stories to his more than 160,000 followers. Bertrand added: "The mind of the man who controls the world's largest nuclear arsenal seems pretty much gone. Extremely reassuring..."

According to the Arms Control Association the U.S. actually has the world's second-biggest nuclear arsenal, with 5,244 warheads against 5,889 for Russia.

Another X user replied: "Come on he isn't safe. There has to be another Democrat that can replace him surely?"

Reacting to his China comments specifically, another user remarked: "God he's such a profound embarrassment. and the democrats are genuinely asking for 4 more years of this..."

A fourth jokingly commented: "He's having lunch next week with Napoleon."

However, one X user insisted Donald Trump would be even worse, posting: "What an embarrassment (though less so than Trump)."

Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment by email.

Trump, aged 77, has also made a number of gaffes in recent months, including during a rally in Iowa on December 2, where he claimed to have been "waging an all-out war on American democracy."

During a campaign event in Sioux City, Iowa, in October Trump incorrectly said he was in Sioux Falls, which is located in South Dakota, before being corrected by a Republican lawmaker.