
President Biden assured Michigan voters Friday he was “OK” during a campaign stop in this key swing state, but the 81-year-old accidentally misnamed a prominent Democratic congresswoman.
“I promise you, I am – I’m OK,” the president said to supporters at a Northville, Michigan before heading to a larger rally in Detroit.
At one point, he referred to Representative Debbie Dingell as “Debbie Haley.”
“Members of Congress – Debbie Haley,” Biden said, apparently referring to Dingell, a five-term congresswoman.
“And by the way, I want you to know that I’ve spent a lot of time with Debbie,” he added. “She helped me a lot.”
The president also compared Dingell’s appearance to his wife, the first lady.
“I forget which event we were at, and someone said, you’re his wife, aren’t you?” Biden said, explaining that Dingell “looks like Jill.”
Many of Michigan’s top Democrats were notably absent from the event Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a co-chair of the Biden campaign and constant replacement rumor, was out of state.
Representative Elissa Slotkin, a Democratic candidate for the state’s open Senate seat, and United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain were absent as well, along with Senator Gary Peters.
Biden’s comments at Detroit’s Renaissance High School were made at the same event where Biden declared “I’m a bridge” to a new generation of leadership on his 2020 campaign trail.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Biden told rally-goers, as calls from Democratic lawmakers for him to end his re-election effort mounted this week.
“I am running and we’re going to win,” the president said.
An Emerson College survey showed former President Trump up 1 point over Biden after their contentious June 27 debate.
Michigan narrowly sent Biden to the presidency in 2020 after Trump won the state in 2016 by fewer than 11,000 votes.