Where’s Jackie? She died last month, Mr Biden
Congresswoman killed in car crash, but the president spoke as if she was present at White House conference
JOE BIDEN baffled an audience at the White House last night when he asked if a late congresswoman, who died in a car crash last month, was present.
It was the latest gaffe by the 79-yearold president at the event where other speakers offered their condolences.
Mr Biden himself had issued a public statement only weeks ago, marking the death of Republican congresswoman Jackie Walorski.
But at the White House conference on tackling hunger, he said: “Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie?” He added: “I think she was going to be here.”
The car crash on Aug 3, in which two of the congresswoman’s staff members also died, was highly publicised in the United States.
At the time, Mr Biden issued a statement saying he was “shocked and saddened” and offered his “deepest condolences” to her family.
The White House also flew flags at half-mast in tribute.
In his statement in August, Mr Biden said: “We may have represented different parties and disagreed on many issues, but she was respected by members of both parties for her work.
“She also served as co-chair of the House Hunger Caucus, and my team and I appreciated her partnership as we plan for a historic White House conference on hunger, nutrition and health this fall.”
It was at that conference yesterday that Mr Biden asked if Ms Walorski, 58, was present. She and three other members of Congress had organised the event.
The crash happened in the district the congresswoman represented, Indiana, and the car was driven by an aide Zachery Potts, who also died.
At the hunger conference, other politicians who spoke extended their condolences for Ms Walorski.
Susan Rice, the White House policy adviser, speaking after Mr Biden, said she “of course” missed Ms Walorski, noting that she “passed away in August”.
Mr Biden’s gaffes have led to questions over whether he is too old to seek re-election in 2024.
He is already America’s oldest ever president and would be 86 at the end of a second term.
His gaffes have included appearing to forget the name of Scott Morrison, the then prime minister of Australia, referring to him as “that fellow Down Under”.
Speaking earlier this month, Mr Biden said he should be judged on his
‘Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie? I think she was going to be here’
job performance rather than his age. He said: “I think it relates to how much energy you have, and whether or not the job you’re doing is one consistent with what any person of any age would be able to do.
“There’s not things I don’t do now that I did before, whether it’s physical, or mental, or anything else.”
According to a new Politico-morning Consult poll, Mr Biden’s approval rating has dropped five points in the last week.
The poll found that 41 per cent approved of his performance as president, down from 46 per cent a week earlier.
Mr Biden had been rising in polls after passing a series of laws recently, including expanding healthcare for military veterans.
His slide this week was mainly due to less support from his own party. His approval rating among Democrats fell from 85 per cent to 80 per cent.
Some Democrat candidates in the forthcoming midterm elections in November have been wary of seeking support from Mr Biden in case it proves counter-productive for them.
Mr Biden’s gaffe appeared worse as it later emerged that he was scheduled to meet Ms Walorski’s family at the White House tomorrow.
Karine Jean-pierre, the White House press secretary, said the president’s confusion had stemmed from having Ms Walorski on his mind as he presided over the conference she had helped organise. Ms Jean-pierre said the president had also been thinking ahead to hosting the Walorski family later this week.
The press secretary said: “She was top of mind. He was thinking about her as he was naming [people].
“He was calling out the congressional champions on this issue, on this really critical issue.
“I feel like many of us have gone through that particular, you know, time, where someone is on top of mind and you call them out.”