On Tuesday night, Biden started doing it describe supporters of former President Donald Trump as “garbage” before changing direction mid-sentence, leaving the White House to claim he was only referring to a comedian who spoke at Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden over the weekend. A transcript promoted by the White House included an apostrophe in “supporters,” trying to claim Biden was discussing the comedian individually, but Biden’s video did not appear to line up with the alleged transcript.

Tuesday’s attempt at damage control by the White House follows several other instances in which Biden made comments that had to be redacted.

1. Biden claims the US has made a commitment to help defend Taiwan

During a CNN town hall in October 2021, Biden was asked about China’s growing hostility toward Taiwan and what the United States would do to help the Asian country from a possible attack from China. Biden appeared to indicate that he would defend Taiwan, which would have been a significant shift from the long-standing policy of strategic ambiguity about how the US would respond in defense of Taiwan.

When pressed by CNN’s Anderson Cooper whether the country would “come to Taiwan’s defense if China attacked,” Biden said “yes” and said “we are committed to doing that.”

Shortly after the town hall, then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki clear there was no new policy.

“There was no change. The President has not announced any change in our policy, nor has he made a decision to change our policy. There is no change in our policy,” Psaki said.

Biden repeated the line in May 2022, forcing the White House to do so go back his comments again.

2. Comment of “minor incursion” before the war in Ukraine

Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Biden claimed during a January 2022 press conference that a “minor incursion” could cause a split in the Western powers’ response to an all-out invasion.

“It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and we have to fight about what to do and what not to do,” Biden said. “But if they really do what they’re capable of doing with the force amassed on the border, it will be a disaster for Russia if they continue to invade Ukraine.”

The comments were widely seen as worrying, with Russia appearing on the brink of some sort of invasion of Ukraine, and the White House issued a statement. clarifying Biden’s comment less than an hour after the news conference ended.

“President Biden has been clear with the Russian president: If any Russian military forces cross the border into Ukraine, that is a renewed invasion and will be met with a swift, severe, and united response from the United States and our allies.” Psaki said in a statement at the time.

Russia invaded Ukraine the following month, and the war has been going on since October 2024.

3. Biden appears to be pretending to have cancer

During an event in Massachusetts in July 2022 promoting climate finance, Biden appeared to falsely claim to have cancer.

Biden remarked on air pollution before saying it was to blame for so many people in his generation suffering from cancer and referring to himself as having cancer in the present tense.

Did Joe Biden just announce he has cancer?

“That’s why I — and a hell of a lot of other people I grew up with — have cancer.” pic.twitter.com/lkm7AHJATX

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 20, 2022

“That’s why me and a hell of a lot of other people I grew up with have cancer,” Biden said. “For the longest time, Delaware had the highest cancer rate in the country, but that’s in the past.”

White House quickly clear that Biden misspoke and did not have a new cancer diagnosis, but said he had “several localized, non-melanoma skin cancers removed by Mohs surgery before he began his presidency.” Remote skin cancers, occurring in the sun rather than air pollution, were widely reported before the blunder.

4. Shutting down coal plants

In November 2022, Biden made a comment about coal plants that it didn’t land well with many from parts of the country where the industry is still vital.

“We’re going to shut down these plants across America, and we’re going to have wind and solar also provide tax credits to help families buy energy-efficient appliances,” Biden said.

Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV), who represents a coal-rich state, blasted the president’s remarks as “not only outrageous and divorced from reality, but ignores the severe economic pain the American people are feeling due to rising energy costs.”

The White House claimed that Biden’s comments were “twisted”.

“Anyone who knows President Biden knows he comes from coal country, from Scranton, Pennsylvania,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Other blunders

The president’s mistakes didn’t always require the communications department to reverse what he had to say. At times, they tried to amplify their claims to try to fit them into a more coherent narrative.

In September 2022, Biden asked if the late Indiana Jackie Walorski was present at an event. Walorski had died in a car accident a month earlier.

“I want to thank everyone here, including bipartisan elected officials like Representative McGovern, Senator Braun, Senator Booker, Representative — Jackie, are you here?” Biden said. “Where’s Jackie? I thought he would be here – to help make that a reality.”

Jean-Pierre later said the late congresswoman “was most important to the president” when she made the errant remarks.

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In February 2024, during a press conference in which he claimed he had no cognitive or memory problems, Biden referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as “the Mexican president”.

Earlier in the week, Biden mislabeled French President Emmanuel Macron as the deceased former French president Francois Mitterrand and claimed former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl had spoken to him during the 2021 G7 summit, despite Kohl leaving office in 1998 and died in 2017.