Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden stumbled over a name when he was interviewed during the virtual “I Will Vote” concert, and social media has lit up with claims that he confused President Donald Trump with a previous occupant of the Oval Office.
Yes, Biden did say “George,” which some social media users concluded was a reference to former President George W. Bush. But many of these posts omit a critical detail: The interviewer was named George too.
Here’s a breakdown of the facts and the context around the claims that are circulating online:
CLAIM: In an interview, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden confused President Donald Trump with former President George W. Bush.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: Missing context. Biden and his wife, Jill, were being interviewed by actor and comedian George Lopez during the virtual “I Will Vote” concert Sunday.
THE FACTS: Social media users are sharing a 27-second clip of Joe and Jill Biden to suggest that Biden is not mentally fit to run for office ahead of Election Day. But the clips being widely shared lack context.
The full video, which Biden tweeted, shows the former vice president was being interviewed by actor George Lopez as part of a virtual concert being held in support of the Democratic candidate by the Biden Victory Fund. Lopez and political commentator Ana Navarro were hosting the live concert, which featured performances from the Black Eyed Peas and Jennifer Hudson.
During the interview — at around the 13:00 mark of the video tweeted by Biden — actor George Lopez asks the Democratic candidate what he would say to undecided voters with only a few days left before Election Day.
“Like if someone is undecided and maybe thinking about not voting, why should they vote and why should they vote for you?” Lopez asks.
Biden then responds saying that there is a lot on the ballot in this election.
“The character of the country in my view is literally on the ballot, what kind of country are we going to be,” he says. “Four more years of George uh…George, going to find ourselves in a position if Trump gets elected, we are going to be in a different world.”
Biden appears to stumble over his words before correcting himself. The clips online do not mention that Biden was being interviewed by Lopez and instead contend that Biden was so confused that he mixed up President Trump with George W. Bush, who was president immediately before Barack Obama and Biden, his vice president, took office.
“WATCH: Joe Biden confuses President Trump with George Bush,” the Trump War Room, one of the official Trump campaign Twitter accounts, tweeted Sunday night. “4 more years of George, uh, George…”
President Donald Trump also shared his thoughts on the clip on Twitter, receiving 32,000 retweets.
“Joe Biden called me George yesterday,” he said. “Couldn’t remember my name. Got some help from the anchor to get him through the interview. The Fake News Cartel is working overtime to cover it up!”
On Sunday night, Biden tweeted the full footage of the concert, which was live streamed on Periscope.
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