In what was billed as a comeback moment but quickly devolved into a gaffe-filled spiral, former President Joe Biden made his first public remarks in over three months Tuesday night—and the results were, well, predictably chaotic.
Speaking at a Chicago gathering of disability advocates, Biden used the opportunity to attack the Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), spearheaded by none other than Elon Musk, accusing them of “dismantling” the Social Security Administration. But before he even got to that point, the entire production seemed plagued from the jump.
Biden arrived more than 30 minutes late to the podium and began speaking before the walkout music had stopped, seemingly unaware that no one in the audience could hear him. When the microphone finally caught up, Biden launched into an anecdote from his youth that left many confused, if not outright baffled.
President Trump just posted this with no caption 🤣
No words needed.
pic.twitter.com/umk6uNTrTD— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 15, 2025
“I had never seen hardly any black people in Scranton at the time,” Biden said, recalling a childhood memory that included a bus of “colored kids” and an apparent revelation about segregation from his mother. The story meandered without conclusion, only loosely tied to the topic at hand, and set the tone for the rest of the speech—erratic, wandering, and punctuated by abrupt tonal shifts.
Transitioning back to the teleprompter, Biden attempted to list off achievements from his own presidency while accusing the Trump-Musk team of destruction. “They’ve taken a hatchet to the Social Security Administration,” he claimed, accusing the current administration of undermining services for seniors.
He even threw in a surreal aside: “Those 300-year-old folks getting that Social Security, I want to meet them…” It was one of several eyebrow-raising comments that echoed the more disjointed public appearances that came to define Biden’s final months in office.
Fox News eventually cut the speech short to provide immediate fact-checks, with anchor Bret Baier reminding viewers that Musk’s DOGE agency has, in fact, been responsible for uncovering extensive fraud within the Social Security system—something Biden’s administration failed to control. The network also emphasized that President Trump has explicitly promised not to cut Social Security benefits, despite efforts to streamline bloated bureaucracy.
Musk, never one to avoid controversy, made waves earlier this year when he called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time” on the Joe Rogan Experience. He criticized the program’s unsustainable payout structure, arguing that the system is on a collision course with economic reality. His remarks, though polarizing, came backed by data—and under his guidance, the administration has trimmed 7,000 positions from the SSA, with more cuts expected.
I’m so glad he’s back https://t.co/R4EhFLoD6v
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) April 16, 2025
But Musk has been clear: the cuts target inefficiency and fraud, not the benefits seniors rely on. “We’re not touching the checks,” he said. “We’re making sure they go to the right people.”
The former president’s reemergence only reignited concerns over his clarity and coherence. Shouting one minute, whispering the next, Biden seemed to struggle with pacing and focus. And though he clearly aimed to position himself as a defender of seniors and the disabled, his delivery overshadowed the message.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt didn’t miss the opportunity to jab: “I thought his bedtime was much earlier than his speech tonight,” she quipped, adding fuel to the ongoing public discourse about Biden’s age and fitness.
