Biden has uttered a lot of awkward gaffes since his 2020 run for office

President Joe Biden has taken a lot of heat from his political enemies and the press for constantly fumbling over his words on the road to the Oval Office and after his election win. Here is a list of some of his worst quotes plus most awkward gaffes.

Biden said a lot of ridiculous things while on the campaign trail for president and one of his worst was telling a group of coal miners that they needed to learn to code: "Anybody who can go down 300 to 3,000 feet in a mine, sure in ---- can learn to program as well."

Newsweek reported that Biden later doubled down on his criticism of the miners adding later "Anybody who can throw coal into a furnace can learn how to program for god's sake.” It was a tone-deaf comment that earned him a lot of rebuke from the political right. 

Biden called an Iowa voter a “liar” after he accused Biden of getting his son Hunter a job with a Ukrainian gas company in exchange for access to Barack Obama and then later called the man fat in a bizarre battle that saw Biden challenge the man to do push-ups. 

“That’s why I’m not sedentary,” Biden said, referencing the man’s TV habits. “You want to check my shape, let’s do push-ups together, let’s run, let’s do whatever you want to do, let’s take an IQ test.” It was a bad look for Biden and certainly not his best moment. 

During a campaign event in Pennsylvania, Biden was trying to relate to the crowd about struggling in America and said: “You try your breast, but it's never enough.” Yes, he really did say breast, and Biden didn’t even skip a beat after that hilarious gaffe. 

Biden said this during a campaign event for Asian and Hispanic voters, which makes it all the more awful. The Independent reported Biden probably meant to say wealthy kids and he tried to backtrack the comment, adding in “Wealthy kids. Black kids, Asian kids.” 

Biden has taken a lot of criticism for being too old to serve as president but his age only really became a political battering ram after he forgot the name of his defense secretary six weeks into office. 

“I want to thank the sec — the, the, ah former general,” Biden fumbled, according to the New York Post. “I keep calling him general, but my, my — the guy who runs that outfit over there,” Biden added, even though he had just read his name off the teleprompter. 

Another big gaffe that Biden’s political enemies pounced on was the time he called Vice President Kamala Harris the President. “When President Harris and I took a virtual tour of a vaccination center in Arizona not long ago,” Biden said without correcting himself. 

One month before the fall of Afghanistan. Biden said: “The likelihood there’s going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely.” He likely regretted these words after the terrorist group quickly seized control of the country. 

This was undoubtedly one of the most awkward things Biden has done since taking office. In November 2021, while speaking at a Veterans Day Arlington, Biden said: ​​“I’ve adopted the attitude of the great Negro at the time,” later clarifying that he meant pitcher Satchel Paige. 

This was a moment when the right really went after Biden for his age and aloofness but can you blame them? Seeing Biden shamelessly reading off his instructions listed on a teleprompter was one of the heights of Biden’s gaffe-filled second year in office. 

The Independent pointed out that in June 2021 Biden mixed up French President Emmanual Macron with his long-dead predecessor Francois Mitterand, who died all the way back in 1996. Biden also messed up the country Mitterand lead!

“Mitterrand from Germany –  – looked at me and said, ‘You know, what... why… how long you back for?” President Biden told his listeners while recounting a G7 meeting he had Mitterand (actually Macron) just after being elected.

The president got his enemies and allies mixed up when he said: "Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he'll never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people. He will never extinguish their love of freedom. He will never weaken the resolve of the free world."

Biden added a few extra states to the union while speaking at a campaign event for the prospective Democratic Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman. A clip of the gaffe went viral and Newsweek noted that it quickly brought in 1.7 million views on Twitter in a few days. 

While speaking at the League of Conservation Voters, Biden said: “We have plans to build a railroad from the Pacific all the way across the Indian Ocean.” He took a lot of heat for the comment since he’d divulged a similar plan a week before to Rishi Sunak. 

The New York Post reported that Biden was likely referring to railroad initiatives like the Lobito Corridor, which planned to link several African nations and provide a link going to the Indian Ocean rather than across it. Maybe Biden’s age had him thinking otherwise.

Since the beginning of 2024, Biden has had a number of awkward gaffes that have left voters wondering if he was the right man for the Democrats to run for office in November. His worst may have been mixing up  Egypt for Mexico on February 8th.

“The president of Mexico did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in,” Biden explained about a situation that had occurred between Israel and Hamas conflict in the Middle East according to The Independent. “I talked to him. I convinced to open the gate.”