President Joe Biden appeared confused and lost after a tree-planting ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House on Monday, two news outlets are reporting.
The president was joined by First Lady Jill Biden in planting a tree to mark White House groundskeeper Dale Haney's 50 years of service, according to the New York Post and Daily Mail.
After the tree planting President Biden walked off into a nearby garden but turned around to ask: "Where are we going," according to the Post.
Staffers were heard telling Biden how to get back to the White House, the newspaper added. A man pointed him in the right direction.
"What if I want to go that way?" Biden appeared to ask. Someone replied, "You can go that way if you want."
"You can do whatever you want," another staffer said.
"Yeah, I notice how much freedom I have," Biden joked as he started walking in the correct direction.
The Daily Mail, pointing to a video of the incident, noted it is just the latest in a string of awkward moments for the president.
Biden, while speaking at the White House Conference on Nutrition, Hunger, and Health in late September asked the audience where Rep. Jackie Walorski was — almost two months after the Indiana Republican congresswoman was killed in an automobile accident in Indiana in August.
Biden made the gaffe when he was calling out the bipartisan work that members of Congress have done, thanking Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., Rep. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Walorski for their work.
"Jackie, you here?" Biden said. "Where's Jackie? She must not be here."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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