Former President Joe Biden returned with a signature gaffe when he recalled the first time he ever laid eyes on a group of “colored kids” in his first public remarks since leaving the White House this past January.
Biden, 82, used the outdated term while delivering a keynote speech at a conference in Chicago. The former president was telling an anecdote about his childhood move from Scranton, Pennsylvania to Wilmington, Delaware, which he credited as primary motivation for deciding to run for public office.
“I was only going in fourth grade,” the former president said as he recalled his mother driving him to Catholic school in Wilmington. “And I remember seeing kids going by, at the time called ‘colored kids,’ on a bus go by — they never turned right to go to Claymont High School.”
Biden claimed learning that black children could not attend public school with white students “sparked my sense of outrage as a kid.”
The 46th president served as the keynote speaker at the Advocates, Counselors, and Representatives for the Disabled (ACRD) conference in Chicago, which largely centered on Social Security.
Biden’s remarks got off to a poor start, however, as the former president began his speech with inaudible rambling over his intro music. He went on to repeat a number of unsubstantiated claims about his predecessor/successor, including the false claim that Trump and Republican lawmakers are looking to cut Social Security.
“Social Security is more than a government program. It’s a sacred promise,” Biden argued before accusing Republicans in Congress of wanting to “cut and gut” the program.
“Who the hell do they think they are?” an irritated Biden ranted before pulling back. “I will not go further. I’ll get in trouble,” he said.
Biden did not refer to President Trump by name in his first speech since leaving office, though he did make dismissive references to claims of fraud uncovered by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative. “Those 300-year-old folk getting that Social Security, I want to meet them,” Biden joked. “I’d like to figure out how they live that long.”
“Hell of a thing, man. I’m looking for longevity.”
DOGE has reportedly uncovered millions of questionable entries in the Social Security database—some suggesting that individuals over 150 years old are still listed as alive.
“As a friend of mine described it, this is like an amazing puzzle, uncovering the secrets of an ancient civilization that went extinct … except it’s still around,” Musk wrote.
