At a certain point in public life, every misspoken word is scrutinised, every physical stumble is recorded. For former U.S. President Joe Biden, that painful scrutiny peaked once more on Friday, when the 83-year-old Democrat suffered a genuinely brutal, and deeply symbolic, humiliation: he fumbled the very pronunciation of 'America' during a passionate speech.
The visibly frail 46th president was addressing a forum on LGBTQ rights in Washington, DC, hosted by the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, where he was being honoured with the Chris Abele Impact Award for running what the organisation called one of the most inclusive administrations in U.S. history. Yet, during an impassioned moment of his keynote speech — a critique of the Donald Trump administration's impact on civil rights — the man who has served the country for more than five decades disastrously mangled the nation's name.
