Biden continues to make mistakes in public appearances. What you need to know

Former US President Joe Biden was embarrassed again in one of his last public appearances. The speech attracted the attention of the press, as Biden spoke very rarely after leaving office. In addition, the amount at which the former president estimates his performances has become known. Why, despite his weak oratorical abilities, Joe Biden still goes out in public and whether this means that he will return to the political arena is in the Izvestia article.

I put up a price tag

• On February 3, the American press reported that former US President Joe Biden signed a contract with the Creative Artist Agency (CAA) talent search agency. Former US President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also collaborated with this agency. Biden already had a contract with CAA from 2017 to 2020, after completing his work as vice president: then he published his memoirs and launched a 42-day book tour.

• Joe Biden estimates his speeches at $300,000, a quarter less than what Barack Obama's speeches cost after he left office in 2017. In case of a trip, Biden will also need a private jet and funds to provide for five employees. Despite the "discount," the agency has difficulty booking speeches by the former US president, as he has not been very good at public speaking before.

Special diplomatic mission: Russia and the United States are moving away from Biden's legacy

Moscow and Washington discussed the restoration of embassy staff and direct flights, and exchanged prisoners.

• Biden's first speeches did not arouse the interest of the press: on March 15, he delivered a speech at the conference of the National Model School of the United Nations (NHSMUN), and on April 4 he visited the International Brotherhood of Electricians and became its honorary member. But his speech at the Conference of Advocates, Counselors, and Representatives of the Disabled (ACRD) in Chicago and his subsequent visit to Harvard University did not go unnoticed by the public. Biden chose a politically convenient moment when, due to the tariffs, Americans began to blame Trump for the state of the economy, rather than the previous president.

Awkward moments

• Biden's speech at the ACRD conference took place on the "day of action to save social security" organized by the Democratic Party on April 15. The former president talked about the importance of preserving the existing system, but when he got lost in his memories, he made an awkward remark about how he saw "colored children" for the first time after moving to Delaware. According to Biden, he had never seen them before.

• Joe Biden supported Harvard University on April 17 in its decision to resist the demands of the Trump administration, but did not answer the question of whether the university's president should challenge the White House's decision in court. "I think Harvard should just do what it does—help everyone," Biden replied. In his speech, he also mistakenly referred to Ukraine as Iraq, until he was corrected. At the same time, protesting students were waiting for Biden on the street, who called him "another organizer of the genocide" of the Palestinian people.

• During his presidency, Joe Biden became famous for blunders in public statements. In September 2022, at an event in Washington, he addressed several members of Congress, including Jackie Walorski, a member of the House of Representatives, who died a month earlier. "I want to thank everyone here, including members of both parties who hold elected office, such as Member of the House of Representatives [Jim] McGovern, Senator [Mike] Brown, Senator [Cory] Booker, Member of the House of Representatives Jackie—are you there? Where's Jackie? "I think she was going to be here," the president said. Walorski died in an accident. Biden, of course, expressed his condolences and instructed to lower the flags in Washington in her honor.

• In the same year, during his first visit to Israel, Biden confused the words honor (respect, praise) and horror (horror). In the presence of the leaders of the Jewish state, he said: "I will return to the holy land of Yad Vashem again to honor the memory of the 6 million Jewish lives stolen during the genocide, and to continue - and we must do this every day — to continue telling what happened then in order to remember the truth and glorify the Holocaust.... Rather, to remember the horrors of the Holocaust, to honor those we have lost, and never forget this lesson."

In October 2022, speaking in Colorado, Biden announced that his son Beau "died in Iraq." Despite the fact that Joseph Biden III, who was more often called Bo, was indeed a military man and served in Iraq in 2008-2009, he died with the rank of major in 2015, though not on the battlefield, but from a brain tumor. In several interviews, the elderly leader of the nation could not even remember the year of his eldest son's death.

• In 2008, running for vice president during the election campaign in Missouri, Biden asked a paralyzed senator from the state legislature, Chuck Graham, to stand up. Graham suffers from lower limb paralysis after a car accident he was involved in at the age of 16. "Get up, Chuck, let them see you," Biden said, but soon came to his senses. "Oh, God loves you, that's what I'm talking about. (...) I'll tell you what, buddy, you're making everyone else stand up," he added.

• Describing his allegedly successful contacts with Xi Jinping, Biden said that he traveled "17 thousand miles with the Chinese leader." Meetings and negotiations between the two politicians were certainly held. However, in order to cover such a distance, they would literally have to travel together across half the Earth.

Why is Biden speaking

• For Biden, public speaking is primarily an opportunity to monetize status. Despite the fact that Biden is not very successful as a speaker, being an American president means being a member of a narrow club. Even former US leaders represent an influential political force and express the opinion of tens of millions of Americans. The public appearance of such a figure is always an event, so selling tickets for a performance ensures high fees.

• Despite the fact that Biden has made no secret of his intention to return to politics, he is a "toxic asset" for Democrats. Although some of Biden's colleagues in the party believe that he can earn political points by contrasting with Trump, many Democrats consider Biden and his unconvincing presidency to be the reason for Trump's victory.