WASHINGTON — President Biden declared Thursday he likes “babies better than people” and then picked one up for a cuddle — as White House aides scrambled to correct his gaffe a day earlier when he vowed to disarm “domestic political advisers.”
The 80-year-old president drew a line between babyhood and personhood during an East Room event celebrating the 13th anniversary of the ObamaCare health reform law.
“It’s OK, it’s all right,” Biden said as an infant wailed during his speech, adding, “In fact, I like babies better than people.”
After speaking, Biden held the baby who apparently was the source of the noise.
In the same room on Wednesday, Biden mistakenly said during a Women’s History Month event that he wanted to “keep guns out of the hands of domestic political advisers.”
White House stenographers specified in an official transcript that he meant to say “convicted domestic abusers.”
The correction was circulated by the press office just moments before Biden took the stage at the ObamaCare event.
Biden also told his audience Thursday that he and former President Barack Obama “did a little thing together” the day prior, without specifying what that was.
“I talked to the president yesterday. I got a chance to speak with him. We did a little thing together and it’s an extraordinary achievement by President Obama,” Biden said.
“And while the Affordable Care Act has been called a lot of things, ObamaCare is the most fitting description.”
Biden is preparing to launch a 2024 re-election campaign.
He’s already the oldest-ever US president and would be 86 if he completes a full second term.
