It was a historic moment for the United States and President Joe Biden. The new President finally had his opportunity to speak before the world’s greatest nations in the wake of a botched withdrawal from the war in Afghanistan, during an out-of-control border crisis and eroding foreign influence.
The leader of the free world has his chance to show the world that he’s not the aging, forgetful and possibly senile old man his opponents claim he is.
Then, Joe Biden started talking. To be more accurate, he started reading from the teleprompter. That’s when things went south. Biden was visibly distraught by the teleprompter, at some points unable to convert the words on the screen in front of him into decipherable spoken words.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the clear and urgent choice that we face here at the dawning of what must be a decisive decade for our world — a decade that will quite literally determine our futures,” Biden told the 76th Assembly of the United Nations. “As a global community, we’re challenged by urgent and looming crises wherein lie enormous opportunities if — if — we can summon the will and resolve to seize these opportunities.”
He stumbled over words, lost his place several times, and at some points appeared to be overwhelmed with his duty of reading the teleprompter in front of him filled with words written by the members of his speech writing team.
Later, the press would not be given the opportunity to ask him to elaborate. On two occasions, Biden’s handlers abruptly cut short meetings with foreign leaders.
You can see Joe Biden’s worst moments of his speech at the U.N. below.