Biden says she is ‘the first black woman to serve with a black president’

Joe Biden said he was “proud” to be the first “black woman to serve with a black president”, in one of a series of verbal gaffes as the United States celebrated Independence Day.

A week after the disastrous debate between Biden and Donald Trump, which left the former fighting for his political life, the president twisted his remarks during an interview on Philadelphia’s Wurd radio station, confusing himself with Kamala Harris, his own vice president.

“By the way, I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, the first black woman … to serve alongside a black president,” he said, slapping his own stint as Barack Obama’s vice president.

Both Mr Obama and Ms Harris made history when they were elected in 2008 and 2020 respectively, he as the first black president and she as the first black vice president and the first woman to hold the office.

Earlier in the interview, Mr Biden rightly said he had nominated Ms Harris and the first black woman to the Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Mr. Biden also appeared uncertain when he spoke on The Earl Ingram Show, aimed at black listeners in Wisconsin but also broadcast nationwide.

Asked why the vote was important, Mr. Biden gave a response that appeared to reference the Supreme Court’s recent decision to grant Trump sweeping immunity from prosecution.

He said: “Somebody, somebody, who makes sure that – the Supreme Court just made a decision, by the way, that threatens the American principle that we have no kings in America. Nobody is above the law.”

Earlier Thursday, Mr. Biden, 81, made mistakes while addressing military families on the South Lawn of the White House.

During a four-minute speech, he said he was going “nowhere,” but appeared to stumble when he referred to Mr. Trump as “one of our colleagues.”

These mistakes will only increase pressure on Mr Biden to withdraw from the Democratic presidential race as the party grows increasingly concerned about his ability to beat Trump in November.

While Mr. Biden’s defenders say he has a long history of mixing up words, during his 90-minute debate last week he often appeared lost.

Although he has admitted to supporters that he is no longer as “fluent” as he once was, questions have intensified about whether he could last four more years in office even if he were to win. Polls show that public support for Mr Biden has declined significantly since the debate, while confidence in Ms Harris has increased.