Retiring President Biden noted Tuesday that he’s leaving office next month — telling an audience in Angola that “you don’t have to clap” — after stumbling and referring to the country as a “city.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, I’m in the final weeks of my presidency. You don’t have to clap for that. You can if you want,” Biden, 82, said while speaking behind a glass barrier streaked by rain.
The lame duck began his highly anticipated speech on an awkward note when he hailed “Angola, a vibrant city” before attempting to mop up the gaffe.
“Look, not the city,” he added. “The city, I know, is not Angola. But in Angola, in a vibrant city.”
He similarly referred to President-elect Donald Trump’s first term as spanning “eight years” before again catching himself and correctly saying four.
Biden also announced $1 billion in “new humanitarian support for Africans displaced from homes by historic droughts.”
He did not mention which countries would benefit from that aid and his other recent foreign financial pledges have been cast into doubt due to the fact that Trump, 78, will retake the White House on Jan. 20 after campaigning on an “America First” approach to the world.
Hours earlier, Biden was delicately maneuvered down a red carpet for a photo-op alongside Angola president João Lourenço — with his counterpart putting a hand on his back and pointing the way, recalling similar instances where world leaders treated Biden as if he was confused and needed direction, such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s guidance in June at a skydiving demonstration.
