Joe Biden asks if dead congresswoman is in crowd during speech

Nick Allen
·1 min read
20
Joe Biden made the gaffe during the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health - OLIVER CONTRERAS
Joe Biden made the gaffe during the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health - OLIVER CONTRERAS
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Joe Biden asked if a late congresswoman, who died in a car crash last month, was in the audience as he addressed a crowd.

The US President was speaking to an event about tackling hunger, which had been organised by politicians including Jackie Walorski, a Republican congresswoman from Indiana.

Mr Biden said: "Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie? I think she was going to be here."

The crash on Aug 3 was highly publicised, and Mr Biden had issued a statement at the time.

In it he said: "She was respected by members of both parties for her work on the House Ways and Means Committee."

Two of the congresswoman's staff also died in the crash, including the driver Zachery Potts. It happened in the Indiana district Ms Walorski represented.

She had joined three other members of Congress to organise the conference on hunger at which Mr Biden was speaking.

There was no immediate comment from the White House.