Joe Biden has made a major blunder during a recent conference on hunger, nutrition, and health this week.
The US President, who was attending the White House's first food insecurity conference since 1969, decided to take a moment to publicly acknowledge and thank bipartisan elected officials who had assisted in organizing the event.
This list included the late Indiana Republican Rep. Jackie Walorski, who was the event's co-sponsor.
"I want to thank all of you here for including bipartisan elected officials like Rep. (Jim) McGovern, Sen. (Mike) Braun, Sen. (Cory) Booker, Representative – Jackie, are you here? Where's Jackie? I think she wasn't going to be here - to help make this a reality," Biden stated, per CNN.
Walorski was the co-chair of the House Hunger Caucus prior to her death. She tragically passed away August 3 at age 58, after a car accident that also claimed the lives of two of her staffers.
Mere hours after her death, NBC News reported that Biden had released a statement saying he "appreciated her partnership as we plan for a historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health this fall that will be marked by her deep care for the needs of rural America."
In the now-viral footage, ABC News Chief White House Correspondent, Cecilia Vega, is heard asking White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre whether Biden was asking about Walorski, despite her having died last month.
"The president appeared to look around the room for an audience member, a member of Congress, who passed away last month. He seemed to indicate she might be in the room," Vega said.
Jean-Pierre responded to this statement, seemingly confirming that Biden had been referring to the late Congresswoman.
"The president was naming the congressional champions on this issue and was acknowledging her incredible work. He had already planned to welcome the congresswoman's family to the White House on Friday. There will be a bill signing in her honor this coming Friday, so, of course, she was on his mind," Jean-Pierre said in response to Vega's question.
"She was top of mind for the President. He very much looks forward to discussing her remarkable legacy of public service with them when he sees her family this coming Friday," she added.
Vega's query was just one of many questions directed towards the press secretary that evening. As a result, Jean-Pierre being forced to mention more than a dozen times that Warloski had simply been at the top of the POTUS' mind, hence why he had allegedly asked for her in the audience.
Jean-Pierre had additionally told journalists: "My answer is not going to change."
Per Sky News, Warloski's family is scheduled to meet with Biden on Friday (September 30) to sign a bill that will rename an Indiana veteran's affairs clinic after the late Congresswoman.
Her brother, Keith, told the New York Post after the blunder that: "I'm not gonna hold it against him. I just feel sorry for him [...] He's forgetful [...] I don't think anybody would look at the things that he's done and said and say that his mind is as sharp as it used to be."
"He is doing the best he can do with what he’s got right now," he added.
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