President Joe Biden addresses the Roosevelt Room at the White House about the issue of abortion access … [+]
Joe Biden is known for being a “gaffe-machine” as he has been openly admitting to it. He’s also often misspoken from time to time. If anyone needs further evidence of the political divide in the United States today, they only have to look at the social media comments regarding President Joe Biden’s flub on Friday.
Multiple high-profile users including Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) Elon Musk, and others called out Biden via Twitter. Biden had signed an executive to give limited protections to women seeking to have abortions after last month’s Supreme Court reversal in Roe v Wade.
End of quote?
Biden said during his speech, “It’s remarkable that the proportion of women who register to vote and then cast their ballot is consistent higher than the percent of men who do this.” End quote.
Some users were in a commotion when Biden’s “end of quotation” was misplaced. His follow-up “Repeat that line”, which he apparently stated just before paraphrasing what he had said previously, also caused a stir. Biden seemed to be reading the teleprompter’s directional cues and mocked him openly for it.
Tweet by Greg Price, digital strategist (@greg_price11): Joe Biden has accidentally read the part of the teleprompter saying “repeat line”, when they asked him to repeat it again.
Price responded with a clip taken from the comedy The Legend of Ron Burgundy: AnchormanWill Ferrel played the leading character.
“Biden has become so far removed that he can literally read any teleprompter put in front him,” said Comedian Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth).
Elon Musk, @elonmusk, who just closed his bid to buy Twitter, nevertheless found the time on Friday to reply to Price. Price responded by tweeting: “Whoever controls and monitors the teleprompter will be the president!”
He Said It All, But Not What He Means.
However, there was an equally swift response from many high-profile users, who suggested that Biden was being misquoted – and that the teleprompter wouldn’t have included such directions for any reader.
Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC), a podcaster, was among the people who tried to clarify the situation. It would simply repeat the line. That’s the entire point of a teleprompter. Evidently, he said, “Let me repeat the phrase” because he was paraphrasing the Supreme Court’s opinion.
Emilie Simons, White House Assistant Press Secretary (@EmilieSimons46), was also quick to address this issue and wrote, “No. “Let me repeat that.”
The episode ended in an almost endless back-and forth that lasted hours with each side stating their beliefs.
People listened to what they believed, even with just a short video clip. It is sad to say that something so trivial has overshadowed an otherwise serious conversation on Twitter.
