Joe Biden criticized his US presidential opponent Donald Trump on Saturday evening, joking about the latter's mental health.
During a speech at the prestigious dinner in Washington, the outgoing president estimated that of the two candidates nominated for next November's election, one of the two is "too old and mentally unfit to be president."
“The other one is me,” Joe Biden laughed, report the AP and Reuters news agencies.
A way for the 81-year-old Democratic candidate to humorously deflect persistent concerns about his age and that his memory is failing him.
During his meetings, Donald Trump, 77, himself often questions Joe Biden's mental capacity to be president, judging him to be almost senile and the originator of too many senseless and even far-fetched sentences.
However, the ex-president also sometimes makes blunders.
Several times in a few months, Donald Trump has notably confused Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
After his joke on Saturday evening, Joe Biden also tackled the former president on this subject.
“Don’t tell him, he thinks he’s running against Barack Obama,” he slipped.
VIDEO.
Biden trashes Trump during his State of the Union address
Joe Biden spoke at the Gridiron Club and Foundation dinner, a Washington tradition.
It was his first time attending as president.
This Saturday evening more than 650 guests were present, including the founder of Amazon and owner of the Washington Post Jeff Bezos, as well as the CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, whose activities in the United States could be banned by Washington.
“The threat remains”
During this dinner, the American president also responded to the ambiguous remarks made by Donald Trump during the day.
During a meeting of his party in Vandalia, in Ohio (north), the former president presented the election as a turning point in the history of the country, evoking a “butchery” for the economy of the United States. United if he was not elected against Joe Biden.
“He wants another January 6,” declared Joe Biden’s team immediately, in reference to the attack on the Capitol by Donald Trump supporters in 2021, “but the Americans are going to inflict on him another electoral defeat in November because they continue to reject his extremism, his taste for violence and his thirst for revenge.”
Read alsoUS presidential election 2024: Trump promises to free the Capitol rioters if he wins
On Saturday evening, Joe Biden spoke directly and warned of “an unprecedented moment in history”.
“Freedom is under assault (…) The lies about the 2020 election, the plot to undermine it and join the January 6 insurrection constitute the greatest threat to our democracy since the Civil War ", did he declare.
“In 2020, they failed, but (…) the threat remains,” he added.