President Joe Biden couldn’t avoid another embarrassing gaffe at his rally in Michigan Friday night.
The 81-year-old commander-in-chief insists he plans to stay in the race despite a disastrous debate performance just over two weeks ago raised questions over his fitness to serve a second term.
However, after confusing former President Trump with Vice President Harris and mixing up presidents Zelensky and Putin all in one Thursday, he made a troubling error again tonight, all while he was trying to reassure supporters of his health.
‘I promise you, I am – I’m OK,’ he said, before thanking a member of Congress he called ‘Debbie Haley.’
He was referring to five-term Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell but possibly confused her with former presidential candidate and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.
Later in the speech, the president candidly admitted, ‘sometimes I confuse names.’
President Joe Biden couldn’t avoid another embarrassing gaffe at his rally in Michigan Friday night
‘I promise you, I am – I’m OK,’ he said, before thanking a member of Congress he called ‘Debbie Haley.’ He was referring to five-term Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (pictured right) but possibly confused her with former presidential candidate and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
‘And by the way, I want you to know that I’ve spent a lot of time with Debbie,’ he said after flubbing Dingell’s name. ‘She helped me a lot.’
Dingell was in attendance Friday night at the rally and accompanied Biden to events in Michigan.
He even made a joke about Dingell resembling his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, according to the New York Post.
‘I forget which event we were at, and someone said, you’re his wife, aren’t you?’ Biden said, saying she ‘looks like Jill.’
The defiant president vowed to win Michigan again in 2024 and hit back at the press, pundits and ‘insiders.’
‘There’s a lot of speculation right now, ‘What’s Joe going to do, is he going to stay in?’ Biden said. ‘I am running, and we’re gonna win.’
‘I am the nominee of the Democratic party and the only Democrat who has beat Donald Trump ever,’ Biden said. ‘I know him. Donald Trump is a loser.’
Biden cut a rejuvenated figure after his one-hour press conference on Thursday and a week rubbing shoulders with NATO leaders in Washington.
He spoke for 36 minutes—long by his standards—feeding off the energy of the crowd.
The embattled president also pushed back on coverage of his recent flubs where he messed up names and pointed out the ex-president has mixed up Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley.
A defiant President Biden hits back at the press and pundits during energized rally in Detroit where he vows to stay in the race and win while slamming Trump as a ‘loser’
‘You may have noticed since the debate, the press, you good guys and women up there, they’ve been hammering me,’ he said at one point as the crowd booed. ‘Donald Trump has gotten a free pass.’
After phoning into his favorite morning show to rail against elitist opponents this week, the boos were the simply the latest echo of a Trumpist turn as he fights for survival.
Biden, for his part, at least had the decency to look nonplussed and quickly quieted the crowd.
The Detroit stop was all part of the latest effort to reassure lawmakers and donors that he can not only do the job but is ready to take on another four years.
Supporters packed into the Renaissance High School auditorium Friday chanted ‘four more years’ and ‘we want Joe’ as they waited for the president to make his appearance.
The noise went up several notches when he took the stage. ‘Don’t you quit,’ was the cry of 2000 voices.
The president’s stop in Detroit is his third trip to the city this year and his fourth to the state of Michigan this year.
It is easy to see why. The latest average of polling in the state shows Trump up by less than one point.
The ex-president won Michigan in 2016. But Biden then flipped the state back to blue in 2020 winning against Trump by just over 150,000 votes.
‘I am running, and we’re going to win’ Biden tells the crowd as they chant ‘don’t quit’ and that they have his back in Michigan
With Trump looking dominant in the Sun Belt states of Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia, Biden must look to secure an advantage in the so-called ‘Blue Wall’ of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Biden’s campaign has been looking to reset the narrative and focus on contrasting Biden and Trump with less than four months to go before Election Day.
‘Trump doesn’t get out of his golf cart,’ Biden told supporters in the overflow room who couldn’t get into his main event, during brief remarks before the rally.
At the rally, he went after Trump for Project 2025 and called him a ‘threat to this nation.’
Biden’s arrival in the crucial swing state comes after he spent the week meeting with world leaders at the NATO summit in Washington and held a nearly hour-long press conference Thursday evening where he gave a mix of in-depth policy answers scattered with a series of flubs.
‘Joe Biden has been making gaffes for 40 years. He made a couple of last night. He will probably continue to do so,’ Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said on Friday.
Biden has also given a series of interviews, but the numerous appearances have done little to stem the calls for him to step aside.
Supporters of President Biden gather at the Renaissance High School in Detroit as they wait for him to make remarks
Joining the president Friday were a number of black activists and union leaders who lined up to show Biden still has grassroots support in the battleground despite concerns.
The speakers also included Academy Award winning actress Octavia Spencer, the city’s mayor and the state party chairman.
Michigan’s Lt. Governor was at the rally, but Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is also co-chair of Biden’s campaign, was out of state.
Before heading to his rally, Biden met with supporters at the Garage Grill & Fuel Bar in Northville where he worked to reassured supporters.
‘I promise you, I’m okay,’ he told the crowd of fans.
He strolled around the tables, speaking without notes for 14 minutes.
‘We have real opportunities, and so we’ve got to finish the job,’ the 81-year-old added, echoing the defiant comments from his NATO press conference on Thursday night.
Ahead of his rally in Detroit, Biden met with supporters at the Garage Grill and Fuel Bar in Northville, Michigan. The president made jokes about his age but also talked about how important this election year is
Protester Tom Moran holds a banner outside President Biden’s Detroit rally on July 12
Biden spoke without notes and was joined by Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell, a staunch supporter who praised him for being by her side when her husband John died.
The president repeated the story that the Charlottesville Unite The Right rally in 2017 was the reason he decided to run again.
‘There’s a lot at stake,’ he added and said the nation was at an ‘inflection point.’
He made jokes about his age but didn’t discuss his disastrous debate performance or questions about whether he should run again.
‘That’s why I’m running to finish this job. There’s more to do. I know I’m only 41,’ he said. ‘This is an important one, ‘ he said referring to the election.
‘For the longest time, I was too young because I was the second youngest man ever elected to the United States Senate and now I’m too old.’
And Biden has a lot of work to do tho convince some Democrats he’s up for the challenge including some in Michigan.
Rep. Hillary Scholten, who faces a difficult reelection fight in western Michigan, went public with her concerns on Thursday and called on Biden to stand aside.
‘With the challenges facing our country in 2025 and beyond, it is essential that we have the strongest possible candidate leading the top of the ticket—not just to win, but to govern,’ she said in a statement before Biden’s visit.
She was the first member of Congress from the state to break ranks.
But Biden supporters have dismissed the concerns coming out of Washington.
‘I want to see how he is performing for myself. I’m one rely on my own gut feelings and my own gut instinct,’ said Angela Heard, 61, as she waited for Biden to give his remarks in Detroit. She plans to vote for the Biden-Harris ticket.
‘I like Joe. I thought he was what we needed in 2020. He beat Trump and I hope he can do it again,’ said Robert Clymar, 71.
He said he does not agree with Democratic lawmakers calling for Biden to exit the race. He argued they would be invalidating the votes of those who cast ballots in the primary.
‘I’m one of those votes, and I voted for Biden,’ he said.
President Biden said he is determined to stay in the race during his press conference Thursday evening in Washington following the NATO summit. He argued during the hour long event that the polling data in the presidential race is ‘premature’ and the campaign has not really begun yet
At his press conference, Biden said the polling data was ‘premature.’
‘The campaign really hasn’t even started,’ he said. ‘I mean, it hasn’t started in earnest yet. Most of the time, it doesn’t start till after September after Labor Day.
‘So a lot can happen.’
Supporters in attendance for Biden’s rally in Detroit told DailyMail.com they were with the president 100 percent and wanted to show their support.
The president will spend the weekend at his Delaware beach home.
On Monday, President Biden heads to Austin, Texas, where he will speak about the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act and lay out proposals to address the role of the Supreme Court.
Then it is on to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he will outline proposals to make housing more affordable.
Republicans are headed to Wisconsin next week where they will be gathering for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee where Donald Trump will officially accept the Republican presidential nomination.
