During a Tuesday speech to students at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, President Biden referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “President Harris”.
“Last week, President Harris and I stood in the United States Capitol to observe one of those before and after moments in American history,” Biden said.
This is not the first time that the president has made this mistake. In December, Biden referred to Harris as “President Harris” while speaking at South Carolina State University’s graduation ceremony.
“All kidding aside, of course, President Harris is a proud Howard alum,” he said. In March of 2021, Biden also called Harris “President” during a speech at the White House.
At another point in his Georgia speech, Biden claimed he was “arrested” while protesting for civil rights. “I did not walk in shoes of generations of students who walk these grounds,” he said.
“But I walked other ground, cause I’m so damn old I walked there as well. They think I’m kidding, man. Seems like yesterday, the first time I got arrested- anyway,” he added.
According to the Daily Caller, “Biden has claimed several times he was not arrested and admitted in 2020 that his claim that he was arrested during a congressional delegation trip to South Africa during the 1970s was false”.
At the time, Biden clarified “When I said arrested, I meant I was not able to move”. “Cops would not let me go with them. I wasn’t arrested, I was stopped. I was not able to move where I wanted to go”.
Biden has called on Democrats to reform Senate rules and even eliminate the filibuster if Republicans keep blocking his election law efforts.
The filibuster requires a 60-vote majority to pass most legislation, which Biden has supported in the past. In March of 2021, Biden said he wasn’t in favor of abolishing or even reforming the filibuster.
“I believe the threat to our democracy is so grave that we must find a way to pass these voting rights bills, to bake them in, vote and let the majority prevail,” he said in his speech. “And if that bare minimum is blocked, we have no option but to change the Senate rules, including getting rid of the filibuster”.
When discussing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, Biden said “Every senator, Democrat, Republican and Independent, will have to declare where they stand. Not just for the moment but for the ages”.
“History has never been kind to those who’ve sided with voter suppression over voters’ rights, and it will be even less kind for those who side with election subversion,” he continued. “So I ask every elected official in America, how do you want to be remembered?”