Critics have strongly denounced the president for attempting a (subpar) impression of Joe Biden.
It’s well-known that Trump has little regard for his predecessor, frequently dubbing him ‘Sleepy Joe’ and attributing the country’s current issues to the Biden administration’s policies. However, the president took it a step further by openly mocking him during a public appearance.
During an event at the Detroit Economic Club in Michigan on Tuesday (January 13), Trump launched into an awkward impersonation of Biden.
In the middle of his address, he remarked to the audience: “You know, when you go up here, you take a big chance. Especially me because I go off teleprompter about 80% of the time.
“But isn’t it nice to have a president that can go off teleprompter, don’t you think?”
Following some laughter from the audience, Trump continued: “Remember the speeches Joe would make? First of all, they’d last a matter of seconds, you know.”
He then criticized Biden for supposedly always coughing before speeches and mimicked this by coughing himself.
Trump alleged that Biden’s speeches were typically ‘pretty short’ except for an instance where he claimed Biden was ‘high as a kite’ and appeared to be ‘floating’.
“Remember he was high as a kite? He was floating,” Trump said. “He was up there way up… that was a bad speech. But uh, hey, he got through it, you know. He got through it. If you call it getting through it.”
While Trump seemed entertained by his own performance, the internet was less amused.
Someone expressed outrage on Reddit, where the speech was shared: “What an absolute disgrace of a human being who gave other horrible humans the excuse to be the most vile version of humankind.”
Another person commented: “I am so fearful of today’s generation of kids and teenagers who will think that this behavior is totally normal for a president. God he has made unprecedented damages to our country and its people.”
One commenter described Trump as sounding like “the moron he is,” while another added: “There is no bottom to this guy’s depravity.”
The White House and Biden’s office have been contacted for a response.
Trump’s contentious remarks came shortly after he toured a Ford factory, where he encountered an employee who was clearly not a supporter.
The worker heckled Trump, calling him a ‘pedophile protector’, to which Trump responded with an obscene gesture.
The employee has since been terminated, but a crowdfunding campaign has raised thousands for him.