Joe Biden Proposes to Put More Women to Work than There Are U.S. Citizens

Former Vice President Joe Biden made another gaffe on Tuesday, promising to put more women back to work than there are citizens in the entire United States.

“Why in god’s name shouldn’t we provide an $8,000 tax credit for everybody who has childcare costs,” Biden told an audience at the AFL-CIO of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s presidential summit. “It would put 720 million women back into the work force.”

The statement left many in attendance and those on social media confused, as the entire U.S. has a population estimated to be around 330 million. It is unclear what number the former vice president was attempting to reference.

The gaffe was only the latest in a string that has left even the former vice president’s staunchest allies concerned about his fitness for office. Since entering the presidential race, Biden has repeatedly confused time and place — most infamously in August when he claimed to be vice president during the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, which took place nearly a year after he left office. Biden has also on multiple occasions forgotten the name of his former running mate, Barack Obama, while touting their work together in the White House.

All of that has left many on the left wondering if Biden is really the Democrats’ best hope for beating President Donald Trump in 2020. Jamil Smith, a senior writer for Rolling Stone magazine, summed up the pervading sentiment on the left when he said there was “no explanation that makes” Biden look good after the former vice president’s Parkland blunder.

Biden, himself, has attempted to address such concerns in recent weeks, albeit in a lighthearted fashion.

“I want to be clear; I’m not going nuts,” the 76-year-old former vice president said in August when asked about his frequent lapses and gaffes.