Joe Biden’s aide was forced to end an event after the President repeatedly asked pre-selected reporters to restate their questions.
The 81-year-old was hosting a press conference with Kenyan President William William Ruto where he declared the African country to be a close non-NATO ally to the US. However, during the event, he appeared confused and shot down journalists with multiple questions.
“What was my question?” Biden asked a US reporter who asked a long inquiry to Biden and Ruto at the same time, while in another instance, he queried “is that it?” during the proceedings.
When a reporter tried to ask the President two questions, Biden brought down the hammer and interjected: “One questions”.
Joe Biden’s aide was forced to end an event after the President repeatedly asked pre-selected reporters to restate their questions
Getty
The event at the White House was also riddled with gaffes, with the 81-year-old confusing the nations of Haiti in the Caribbean and Kenya, 7,000 miles away in East Africa.
During the conference, Biden applauded Kenya’s commitment to leading a UN-backed police force in Haiti, comprising of multiple nationalities. Over 1,000 Kenyan police officers would fight the power gangs in the Caribbean nation, in the proposed plans.
Asked by a journalist why he was involving Kenya in a far-away conflict, Biden said the US wanted to do “all it can” without calling the shots in Haiti.
"Haitians are looking for help as well as the folks in the Caribbean are looking for help. And so, we checked out with a number of other countries. The one who stepped up was Haiti,” he said, appearing to mean Kenya.
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“We committed to provide the wherewithal, the intelligence and equipment and the like to Haiti," Biden continued, appearing to confuse Haiti with Kenya a second time. "So it's a logical thing. And you have a first-rate capability, and you keep your word. That's an important dynamic," he said.
After a slight pause, the Kenyan president said: “I agree with president Biden, that Kenya’s participation in Haiti is not so much about what happened in the past, it's about what we believe in, the peace and security of humanity.”
He stressed that it was Kenya’s choice to get involved in Haiti, not that of the US.
The President also appeared confused at whose turn it was to speak, despite the conference following a “two and two” format - two questions for each country's president - a well-established format.
Biden was hosting a press conference with Kenyan President William William Ruto where he declared the African country to be a close non-NATO ally to the US
Reuters
"Do I ask the next question as well?" he asked.
At the end of the 30-minute event, multiple correspondence stood up and burst into multiple overlapping questions.
Biden, apparently shocked by the outburst, said “woah”, before White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre shut it down before the President said anything else.