White House press secretary accidentally calls Biden the 'former president'

During a press gaggle en route to Berlin, Germany on Thursday afternoon, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre mistakenly referred to current President Joe Biden as the "former president."

The slip-up came during questioning about Biden and former President Obama’s conversation at Ethel Kennedy’s funeral on Wednesday. The New York Post hired a professional lip reader to decipher an off-mic conversation between the two, with Biden telling Obama She’s not as strong as me,” apparently referring to Harris. "I know… that’s true,” Obama said in response, adding, "We have time."

"The president at the funeral yesterday had a — what looked like a spirited conversation with former President Obama.  Did you talk to him about what they discussed," a reporter asked Jean-Pierre.

She responded, "No, it’s been kind of busy the last couple hours on the plane, as you can imagine," and added that Biden "appreciated being there" for the funeral of Kennedy, "who he saw as someone who was incredible and had a — was an incredible force, obviously, in her life, during her years.

She later added, "And we have said many times the president and — and president — and former President Biden — they have a very close relationship." The official White House transcript of the gaggle crossed out Biden and added Obama in brackets. Jean-Pierre said she had nothing else to add on the subject and that she had not had "this conversation with the president."