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No stranger to infamous podium moments, United States President Joe Biden has gone viral yet again, this time for yelling into the microphone and criticizing former president Donald Trump for allegedly refusing to visit a veteran's cemetery in Paris back when he was president and allegedly calling veterans "suckers" and "losers." This was in reference to a 2020 Atlantic report that the then-president did say so.
Netizens were extremely confused by Biden's words and demeanor, and many continued to claim that the president had dementia. Social media users also pointed out that the former president denied the claims and alleged they were false. One X user commented:
Netizens want Joe Biden put in a home
On January 27, Collin Rugg, along with a plethora of right-wing media outlets, posted a video clip of Joe Biden slurring his words and shouting into the mic while at the podium. In the video clip, Biden criticizes Donald Trump's alleged attitude towards veterans. The speech was later posted on the president's official Instagram page. Biden said fiercely:
"Donald Trump, when he was commander in chief, refused to visit a cemetery-US cemetery outside of Paris for fallen American soldiers."
He added:
"And he referred to those heroes and I quote as suckers and losers. He actually said that! He said that. How dare he say that? How dare you talk about my son and all of us just like that?!"
In response to the viral clip, netizens claimed that Joe Biden was suffering from dementia and his anger was the result of the disease. People said that Biden had to be placed in a home. Users claimed that the alleged event that the president was referring to did not happen and was proven to be a hoax. Here are a few responses to Collin Rugg's tweet about the Joe Biden clip:
The Trump "suckers" and "losers" claim dates back to a 2020 article
In this clip, Biden seems to be referring to an incident that took place in 2020 when Trump was still president. Back in November 2018, the former president had refused to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery close to Paris, which was the final resting place for over 2000 fallen American veterans, when he was in France commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1.
The White House's official reason for Trump not visiting the cemetery was that the rain and bad weather made the helicopter ride from Paris to the cemetery dangerous. The Secret Service also did not allow a motorcade for the president. Hence, the then-White House chief of staff, John Kelly, made the scheduled visit to the cemetery.
However, years later, in 2020, The Atlantic cited four inside sources and released a report claiming that the president bailed out of the cemetery visit because he thought that the veterans who lost their lives at the Belleau Wood were "suckers" for dying. In an earlier conversation, the former president had allegedly said:
"Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers."
The report went viral, citing immense backlash, back when the 2020 election race was heating up. Donald Trump denied the claims and said in 2020 after the report was published:
"It's a fake story and it's a disgrace that they're allowed to do it."
He added:
"It was a terrible thing that somebody could say the kind of things and- especially to be because I've done more for the military than almost anybody else."
On the other hand, John Kelly claimed that the report was confirmed in an October 2023 statement to CNN's Jake Tapper. The former chief of staff called Trump:
"A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them."
The claims were also criticized by then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, who claimed at the time that Trump was not fit to be the Commander-in-Chief of the United States. He also stated that Trump should apologize to every Gold and Blue Star family.
