President Joe Biden is 80-freaking-years-old and I don’t expect him to recite the Gettysburg Address or even the Pledge of Allegiance without the aid of a teleprompter.
But I do expect him to remember the name of the person he’s singing “Happy Birthday” to, especially during an event that’s being televised live.
Biden delivered a speech at the National Action Network’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. birthday breakfast on Monday.
“Well, my wife has a rule in my family, when it’s somebody’s birthday, sing ‘Happy Birthday,’” he said before he started singing to Martin Luther King III’s spouse.”
A flustered Biden mumbled something that sounded like “Lur-lurh” when it came time to mention her name. The birthday gal’s name is “Andrea Waters King”, and if the octogenarian president couldn’t remember her first name, he could have simply said, “Happy Birthday, Ms. King.”
The venue was festooned with signs commemorating Martin Luther King, only someone suffering from dementia wouldn’t have been prompted to say, “Happy Birthday, Ms. King.”
It’s OK for a resident in a nursing home to forget the name of the birthday gal, but when the president of the United States forgets the name of the person whose birthday is being celebrated, that’s a sign that he’s too old to hold any political office.