President Joe Biden angrily addressed the nation on Thursday night telling Americans ‘I know what the hell I am doing!’ and insisting that ‘my memory is fine.’
However, moments later he committed another startling gaffe, referring to the Egyptian leader as the President of Mexico.
Biden’s furious tirade from the White House came after a report into his handling of classified documents was released by the Justice Department.
The 388-page report by Special Counsel Robert Hur confirmed he would not be charged for keeping classified documents in his garage.
But it said that was because a jury would probably conclude he had ‘diminished faculties’ and was a ‘well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.’
In a hastily arranged press conference an agitated Biden insisted: ‘I know what the hell I’m doing! My memory has not gotten worse. My memory is fine. Take a look at what I have done since becoming president.
‘No one thought I could pass any of the things I got passed. How did that happen? I guess I just forgot what was going on…’
The president was particularly animated with Hur’s inclusion of the claim that he couldn’t remember the timing of his son Beau’s death.
Hur’s report said: ‘He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died.’
Biden brought up the topic himself, fuming: ‘There’s even reference that I don’t remember when my son died. How in the hell dare he raise that? I don’t need anyone, I don’t need anyone, to remind me of when he passed away.
‘Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself, wasn’t any of their damned business.’
He also said reports about his ‘willful’ retention of documents were ‘misleading.’
At one point he yelled: ‘I did not share classified information! I did not!’
Biden then took a question about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
In doing so he botched the identification of a world leader, calling Egypt’s Abdel Fattah El-Sisi the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
He said: ‘I think as you know initially, the president of Mexico, El-Sisi, did not want to open up the gate to humanitarian material to get in. I talked to him. I convinced him to open the gate.’
The mix-up with El-Sisi might have gone little noticed in another week. Many politicians occasionally botch names while speaking in public, as the White House pointed out Thursday.
Read More: Defiant Biden mixes up the presidents of Egypt and Mexico in furious response