President Joe Biden appeared to forget Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra’s name during a virtual roundtable Wednesday.
“I’m going to hand it over to Secretary … Mr. Secretary, I’m going to have you speak now and your remarks,” the president said.
The roundtable discussion addressed the baby formula shortage with administration officials and formula manufacturers, NBC reported. The officials discussed steps to increase production through the Defense Production Act and to import formula from overseas. (RELATED: Biden Appears To Forget The Name Of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin)
Officials attending the conference included Becerra, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy as well as top executives from Gerber, Perrigo Co., Reckitt, Bubs Australia and ByHeart, NBC reported. The White House announced more “Operation Fly Formula” flights to import 3.7 million 8-ounce bottles of Kendamil formula from London beginning on June 9. Bubs Australia formula will be imported from Melbourne to Philadelphia and California in the second week of June.
The president has previously mispronounced Becerra’s name during an address introducing the newly appointed members of his COVID response team prior to taking office.
“And I’m grateful to the members of my COVID team that I’d like to introduce to you now, who will lead the way” the then-president elect said. “I’m really proud of this group. For Secretary of Health and Education [Human Services], I nominated Xavier Bacheria.”
FLASHBACK: Joe Biden has botched Xavier Becerra’s name before:
“For Secretary of Health and Education Services, I nominate Xavier Bacheria.”
He also botched the cabinet office: Health and Human Services.pic.twitter.com/DbdNXRHLZa https://t.co/f1htxzFT3B
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) June 1, 2022
Biden also seemed to forget the name of former President Barack Obama during a 2019 speech addressing Russia’s annexation of Crimea and comments made by former President Donald Trump.
“He’s [Donald Trump] saying that it was president … my boss … it’s his fault,” Biden previously said.