President Biden appears to forget 11-year-old Vivienne’s name as he delivers remarks on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation as the first Black woman to serve on the US Supreme Court,
Addressing the crowd on White House South Lawn, Mr Biden called upon the child to stand up.
He said the young girl was just one of many to be inspired by Ms Jackson as she had told him she eventually wanted to become a Supreme Court Justice.
President Joe Biden celebrates Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington
KEVIN LAMARQUE
However, as he was awkwardly unable to remember her name and had to point and ask her mid-speech.
Mr Biden said: "Is it Vivien? Vivi? Vivienne?...I'm sorry Vivienne."
The fumble aside, Biden called the day a moment of “real change” in American history
As part of her emotional speech, Judge Jackson called her confirmation “the greatest honor of my life.”
She said:“It’s been somewhat overwhelming, in a good way, to recently be flooded with thousands of notes and cards and photos, expressing just how much this moment means to so many people.”
President Joe Biden celebrates and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson embrace during her confirmation to the US Supreme Court in Washington
KEVIN LAMARQUE
“The notes that I’ve received from children are particularly cute and especially meaningful because more than anything, they speak directly to the hope and promise of America.
“It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to be selected to serve on the supreme court of the United States. But we’ve made it. We’ve made it all of us, and our children are telling me that they see now, more than ever, that here in America anything is possible.”
She continued: “They also tell me that I’m a role model, which I take both as an opportunity and as a huge responsibility.”
“I am feeling up to the task primarily because I know that I am not alone. I am standing on the shoulders of my own role models, generations of Americans who never had anything close to this kind of opportunity. But who got up every day and went to work, believing in the promise of America, showing others through their determination and yes, their perseverance, that good things can be done in this great country.”
