Joe Biden's forgetfulness has become an increasingly sore spot for his 2024 reelection campaign, highlighted in Special Counsel Robert Hur's recent remarks characterizing the president as "an elderly man with a poor memory."
The president has made several public gaffes recently, including confusing the president of Mexico with the president of Egypt during a press conference in which he was attempting to defend his mental fitness.
However, speaking on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Monday, Biden leveled a similar jab at Republican rival Donald Trump, suggesting the former president had forgotten the name of his wife, Melania Trump.
The Claim
A post on X, formerly Twitter, by President Joe Biden, on February 27, 2024, included a clip from Late Night with Seth Meyers, in which Meyers asked Biden about his age.
Meyers said: "All jokes aside, according to recent polling, this is a real concern for American voters. How do you address that concern going forward as you come up to the 2024 election?"
Biden replied: "Well, a couple of things. Number one, you got to take a look at the other guy. He's about as old as I am but he can't remember his wife's name."
Biden posted on X alongside the video: "The other guy and I are about the same age.
"The question in this election is: How old are your ideas? He wants to take us back 60 years. I'm focused on the future."
The Facts
Biden appears to be referring to Donald Trump's recent CPAC address, following which some claimed Trump had referred to his wife Melania as Mercedes.
"Well look, my wife, our great first lady, she was great... people love her," Trump told the CPAC crowd on Saturday. The audience applauded, to which Trump responded "Oh look at that, wow. Mercedes, that's pretty good!"
The comments were picked up online as apparent proof of Trump's "cognitive decline."
However, as was pointed out soon after, he had been referring to Mercedes Schlapp, his former White House director of strategic communications, and wife of CPAC organizer Matt Schlapp.
Trump had mentioned Mercedes on several occasions throughout his speech on Saturday. Schlapp quickly responded on Sunday via X, calling the claim against Trump "Fake News at its finest."
Newsweek among other media outlets dispelled the confusion on Sunday but Biden still shared the allegation with Meyers.
Clearly, the nature of a light-hearted, late-night talk show is likelier to invite an expectation of joking and teasing which may have egged on Biden to run with that line even if he knew at that point that the claim was false.
Whatever the intent, Biden's comments are based on a falsehood.
The Ruling
False.
Joe Biden's comment about Trump was based on an initially misunderstood comment the former president made at CPAC over the weekend.
Trump, after speaking about his wife, spoke out to someone called "Mercedes." This led some to believe he had forgotten Melania's name. While it was quickly clarified he had been referring to one of the event organizers, Biden did not pay reverence to that during his interview with Seth Meyers.
While the nature of the comment may have been light-hearted, in keeping with the tone of the show, it was nonetheless based on an inaccurate premise.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
Uncommon Knowledge
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