In remarks made on Monday during the annual turkey pardoning ceremony held at the White House on the president’s 81st birthday, Joe Biden mixed up Britney Spears and Taylor Swift.
He accidentally used the name Britney in reference to Swift’s current international tour while he was pardoning two turkeys, Liberty and Bell.
“Just to get here, Liberty and Bell had to beat some tough odds and competition. They had to work hard, to show patience, and be willing to travel over 1,000 miles,” Biden said. “You could say it’s even harder than getting a ticket to the Renaissance tour or, or Britney’s tour. She’s down, it’s kind of warm in Brazil right now.”
Due to the intense heat on Saturday, Swift had to postpone her performance and instead performed on Sunday night in Brazil. Spears isn’t on tour right now.
In response to NBC News’ request for comment regarding Biden’s alleged error, the White House did not immediately respond. This is concerning because polls show that voters are worried about Biden’s age.
In a recent NBC News poll, voters found Swift to be overwhelmingly well-known, with 94% of respondents saying they knew who she was.
In the survey, Swift also received a high net favorability rating, with 40% of registered voters having a favorable opinion of her and only 16% having a negative one.
National Turkey Federation Chairman Steve Lykken said that even the star turkeys from Monday’s ceremony seemed to adore Swift. On Sunday, he revealed that Liberty and Bell had been enjoying some music before the pardon.
“I can confirm they are, in fact, Swifties,” he said.
The president turned 81 years old on the day of his alleged error. During the same speech, Biden made light of his advanced age by joking, “As many of you know, turning sixty is difficult.”
“This is the 76th anniversary of this event. I want you to know I wasn’t there, and I was too young to make it up,” he quipped.
According to the most recent NBC News poll, Biden is lagging behind former President Donald Trump among young voters (18 to 34), who support Trump 46% of the time and Biden 42%.
Comparing the difference to Biden’s performance among young voters in the 2020 presidential election—when he won voters between the ages of 18 and 29 by more than 20 points—we find that the gap is substantial.
59% of Americans expressed serious doubts in September about Joe Biden’s ability to serve a second term as president due to his physical and mental health, according to another NBC News poll.
In a letter released on Monday, Trump’s doctor described the former president as having “excellent” health and stated that “his cognitive exams were exceptional,” though the doctor did not elaborate on the results.
Trump “reduced his weight through an improved diet and continued daily physical exercise,” according to the doctor Bruce Aronwald. However, the letter omitted information about Trump’s prior weight or the weight he had on September 13 during his most recent examination.
Trump’s health reports have previously caused him to be viewed with suspicion. A different physician wrote a letter regarding Trump’s health in just five minutes, according to an NBC News story from 2016. Trump had sent a limo to the physician’s office. According to a letter written at the time by the physician Harold Bornstein, Trump would be “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”
