For many, Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 American presidential election felt like a deep exhale. A long-awaited calm after four years of storms. Biden gave a historic victory speech where he acknowledged his wife (”I’m Jill’s husband,” he said, poignantly, not the other way around) his appreciation for the African American community and his desire to become a President for all states — not blue states, or red states, but the United States.
Then, slowly but surely, the days since Biden’s eloquent acceptance speech passed, and his speeches no longer felt like a soothing exhale. He has his moments as an orator but, by and large, when he opens his mouth — you hold your breath.
Biden’s called a reporter a “son of a bitch”, Rishi Sunak “Rashi Sanuk” and waxed lyrical about teenage girls’ dating lives. Joe’s a risky jack in the box, for sure, but he’s had his good moments, too — his barbed attacks aimed at Fox News during the White House correspondents’ dinner are not to be forgotten.
And there’s even more to come: Biden has just announced his 2024 presidential run, at the grand age of 80, which will feature speeches, media appearances, photo ops and staircases (he’s not great with those) aplenty for the President to tackle.
So in case you needed a dose of second-hand embarrassment (or mild inspiration) today, here are Joe Biden’s best and worst bits... so far.
1. Rashi Sanuk!
When congratulating former chancellor Rishi Sunak on becoming prime minister last October, Biden very clearly misprounounced his name. “We’ve got news... that Rashi Sanuk is now the prime minister,” he said during a Diwali event (even worse!) last year as the news broke. To be fair to ol’ Bides, we did have a fair few prime ministers in quick succession at that point. In Liz We Trust, and all that.
2. ‘You try your breast’
Oh, Joe. It happens to the breast of us. During a campaign speech Biden gave in Pennsylvania, he described the relatable American struggle of “trying your breast, but it’s never enough,” which led to a fair amount of ridicule. A commenter on the clip gave him some slack, though: “I can’t really blame him,” they wrote, “he’s been in the senate for 180 years now.”
3. His opening line to the correspondents’ dinner
Okay, this is an actual good one. One of Joe’s breast — I mean, best. When making the presidential address at the annual White House correspondents’ dinner (which is essentially a big collective roast with speeches from comedians and journalists), Biden came out fighting. “This is the first time a president has attended this dinner in six years,” he says. “It’s understandable, we had a horrible plague... and then two years of Covid.”
4. And his classy jab at Fox News
Fox News aren’t exactly Biden’s biggest fans, but the correspondents’ dinner is the one time he gets to fight back, and fight dirty. In a later moment from his address, he joked about Fox News presenters being vaccinated (Fox News wasn’t hugely pro-vaccine — recently fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson infamously called the US’ vaccine rollout “unethical”).
“Everyone [here] had to prove they were fully vaccinated and boosted,” Biden says, “so if you’re at home watching this and you’re wondering how to do that... just contact your favourite Fox News reporter. They’re all here, vaccinated and boosted, all of them.”
5. As well as his... less classy jab at Fox News
Back to the stuff that makes Biden’s PR person want to put their head in their hands and never look up. During a press conference in January 2022, Biden, while responding to shouted questions from reporters after a White House event, was asked by Fox News reporter Peter Doocy whether inflation was a "political liability." The president thought his mic was off by this point, but it was not, so it picked up his pissy response. "No, it's a great asset. More inflation. What a stupid son of a bitch." Beware the hot mic, Joe.
6. ‘Poor kids are just as bright as white kids’
At a campaign event for Asian and Hispanic voters in 2020, then-presidential candidate Biden mixed up his words and said: “Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.” He clearly meant to say “wealthy kids” and he does eventually realise his mistake, backtracks, and say that next, but he also adds “Black kids, Asian kids.” All in all, it’s just not a good look. Sorry once again to Biden’s PR person.
7. His speech about Covid hitting certain demographics harder than others
Okay, let’s give him this: in a rousing speech during Covid, Biden addresses how the pandemic has hit certain demographics particularly hard. “Imagine, if you’re a member of a community that has been hit particularly hard. Black, Latino, Asian Americans or Native Americans. Imagine a public health and economic response that treats your needs as a priority, not as an afterthought.” Set against the background of Trump suggesting that people inject bleach to treat Covid, as well as his consistent anti-immigration rhetoric, this line was particularly powerful from Biden.
8. Calling himself Jill’s husband during his presidential acceptance speech
I needn’t remind you about Trump’s relationships with women — you already know, and Stormy Daniels has enough to say on that topic. As such, you’ll understand just how at odds with the former president’s attitude it felt when Biden took to the stage for his presidential victory speech, and told the world “I’m Jill’s husband,” instead of saying it the other way round. He takes time to praise his wife, saying “Jill’s gonna make a great first lady, I’m so proud of her.”
9. And lifting up Kamala Harris too
In the same speech, Biden is emphatic about Harris’s presence as his vice president, and celebrates her as a woman of firsts. “She makes history as the first woman, the first black woman, the first woman of South Asian descent, the daughter of immigrants ever elected [as Vice President] in this country. Don’t tell me it’s not possible in the United States, it’s long overdue!”
He also focuses strongly on the African American community in the US, saying: “Especially in those moments when this campaign was at its lowest ebb, the African American community stood up again for me,” as he pounds the podium with his fist.
10. He’s a bit awkward with kids, though
Sometimes you order ‘Victory Speech Biden’ and ‘Weird With Kids Biden’ arrives in the post, and you just want to immediately return to sender. He’s a well-documented lover of kids (“I like kids better than people,” he’s said, multiple times) but unfortunately this can appear a little awkward. Like during one speech he gave alongside some children in 2019, where he jokes as he puts his arm around a small boy: “By the way, he gave me permission to touch him.” In theory it’s good — consent, right? — but the boy does not look comfortable and the joke only serves to highlight that fact.
11. Telling teenage girls not to date guys until they’re 30
Another repeat Bidenism is his weird habit of telling teenage girls (even when he knows full well that he’s on camera) not to date until they’re 30. “I always say, no serious guys until 30,” he says into a girl’s ear in one clip, grinning.
12. ‘She was 12, I was 30’
One of Biden’s most bizarre gaffes to date came during a speech to a group of teachers in 2022, when he recognised a woman in the audience. “You gotta say hi to me,” Biden said mid-speech at the National Education Association headquarters in Washington DC. “We go back a long way. She was 12, I was 30. But anyway, this woman helped me get an awful lot done.” It’s like he doesn’t even hear the words come out of his mouth sometimes.
13. When he fell off his bike
In a moment literally straight out of the first episode of The West Wing, Biden toppled off his bike as he tried to disembark it while on a cycling trip in Delaware with Jill for their 45th wedding anniversary. “I’m good,” he insisted, while being hauled off the ground.
14. He fell asleep during the Cop26 Climate Summit
Biden was caught “resting his eyes” during an opening speech at the Cop26 Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021. Luckily, his aide quickly realised this and ran over to wake him up, under the guise of whispering something important into his ear. A foghorn would have also worked.
15. ‘That fella down under’
During a press conference to unveil a new security partnership with then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian PM Scott Morrison present via Zoom, Biden signs off by thanking his fellow state leaders. However, he appears to suddenly forget Morrison’s name. Instead, he thanks “that fella down under.” He also calls him “pal.” Devastating. I hope Morrison took a quick break to cry. Boris seemed to find it funny, though.
16. Getting lost on stage at the UN Assembly
After giving a speech to the UN Assembly, Biden makes his way off stage only to get confused, stop in his tracks, and turn back around, then stand still. Eventually, he just has to embrace his fate and stand there, hands clasped. This is my nightmare.
17. That time he had something on his chin
In July 2021, while in the middle of a filmed wildfire strategy meeting at the White House, Biden’s aides realised he had a little bit of muck on his chin. In lieu of wetting their thumbs and wiping it off like an overfamiliar mother figure, they attempted to tell him without alerting anyone else. Unfortunately, Biden opened the note the wrong way round, so people picked up what it said — “Sir, there is something on your chin” — before he subtly stroked his chin to remove the offending grub. So close!
