Biden confuses Macron with dead French president, Francois Mitterand, who died in 1996

The 81-year-old US leader confused his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron with France’s long-dead former leader Francois Mitterand, who died in 1996
As well as getting Macron’s name wrong, he misstated the country he leads, referring to France as Germany

Joe Biden

Agence France-Presse

Published: 7:08pm, 6 Feb, 2024

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US President Joe Biden confused his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron with France’s long-dead former leader Francois Mitterand, in a speech that went viral in video footage on Monday.

Addressing a campaign event in Las Vegas on Sunday, the 81-year-old US leader described Macron’s reaction to a speech at a G7 meeting in 2020.

As well as getting Macron’s name wrong, he misstated the country he leads.

“And Mitterrand – Macron, from Germany – I mean, from France looked at me and said, said ‘You know, what – why – how long you back for?’” Biden said, according to a White House transcript.

US President Joe Biden confused current French president Emmanuel Macron for Francois Mitterand. Mitterrand was French president from 1981 to 1995, and died in 1996. Photo: AP

Mitterrand was French president from 1981 to 1995, and died in 1996.

Video of Biden’s mix-up has been viewed thousands of times on X, formerly Twitter, and shared hundreds of times.

Biden has made similar public mistakes in the past, notably in September 2022 when he called on a deceased congresswoman at a conference she helped organise.

“Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie? I think she was going to be here,” he said, referring to Indiana representative Jackie Walorski, who had died a month earlier.

And in April last year, a White House transcript corrected Biden when he confused New Zealand’s All Blacks rugby team with the Black and Tans, a British military force notorious for its involvement in the Irish War of Independence.

The transcript of his speech, given in a pub in Ireland, crossed out “Black and Tans” and inserted “All Blacks”.

Biden’s predecessor and probable opponent in the November presidential election, Donald Trump, made a similar gaffe last month, confusing his party rival Nikki Haley with former House speaker Nancy Pelosi.

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Trump, 77, had falsely said Haley was in charge of security during the violent assault on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, prompting her to question his mental fitness during a campaign speech.

Following Trump’s gaffe, Biden also took the opportunity to make a dig at his potential presidential rival.

“I don’t agree with Nikki Haley on everything, but we agree on this much: She is not Nancy Pelosi,” he had written in a post on X.