In another cringe-worthy mishap, President Biden inadvertently offered a low estimate of COVID-19's death toll, stating that "over 100" Americans have lost their lives to the disease since its emergence over three years ago.
During the announcement of a new plan for mental health care expansion, Biden, 80, made the error, which was later rectified to "over 1 million" in the official White House transcript.
"We're still feeling the profound loss of the pandemic. As I mentioned, we have over 100 people dead," Biden said at the White House.
"That's 100 empty chairs around the kitchen table. Every single loss, there are so many people left behind and broken-hearted," the commander-in-chief added.
While Biden's estimate is technically accurate, the actual number of Americans who have succumbed to COVID-19 since 2020 is closer to 1,135,000, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Earlier in his speech, the president correctly stated that "over a million people" died from the virus, leaving approximately "8 million people left behind who were close to them."
The president's team corrected the error on the transcript of his speech, crossing out his initial estimate and replacing it with the correct "1 million" total.
On Tuesday, Biden revealed his administration's new plan, which would require insurers to study patient outcomes to ensure mental health and physical health benefits are provided equally, considering their provider network, reimbursement rates, and the need for prior authorization for care.
He argued that surviving loved ones of COVID-19 victims are prime examples of those who may have suffered the losses more deeply because they were not equipped with appropriate, government-backed mental health insurance.
"How many mornings people get up or show up for dinner and there's an empty chair? The impact on people's lives is profound," Biden said.
"And, folks, you know, I don't know what the difference between breaking your arm and having a mental breakdown is. It's health. There is no distinction. It's health."
This recent mistake follows another blunder just 11 days ago when Biden referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as "Vladimir" during a speech at the annual NATO summit in Lithuania. Biden immediately corrected himself after mistakenly using the name of Ukraine's ongoing aggressor.
