US President Joe Biden has mistakenly referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as the “First Lady” at an event, leading to bursts of laughter from the audience. He immediately realised the gaffe and corrected himself.
The 79-year-old erred during an address at the Equal Pay Day event at the White House. The incident took place when he was explaining why Vice President Harris was not present at the event.
“There's been a little change in the arrangement of who is on the stage because of the first lady's husband contracting COVID-19,” President Biden said. Immediately, some people pointed to him that his statement would mean he was the one who had tested positive.
“That's right,” President Biden said, as the entire room burst into laughter.
“She's fine. Second lady -- the first gentleman, how about that?” he added with a smile. A video of the event has gone viral on social media.
Doug Emhoff tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week .“Earlier today, Doug Emhoff tested positive for COVID-19. Mr Emhoff is doing fine and we are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted. I have tested negative and will continue to test. Please get vaccinated and boosted if you haven't already,” Kamala Harris wrote in a post.
This was not the first time President Biden has had a slip of tongue. Earlier this month, when calling for support to Ukraine against the Russian invasion during his State of the Union address, he referred to the Ukrainians as "Iranian people". "Vladimir Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he'll never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people," he said.
Last year, he mistakenly called his Vice President Harris "President Harris".
