--- title: Trump Is Also Bad With Names, Biden Defenders Point Out description: Biden’s supporters want people to remember the many times Trump has mixed up or forgotten people’s names, too. canonical: https://time.com/6997708/president-biden-trump-name-mix-ups-cognitive-decline/ author: Koh Ewe article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-07-12T09:55:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:50:24.338Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Is Also Bad With Names, Biden Defenders Point Out og:description: Biden’s supporters want people to remember the many times Trump has mixed up or forgotten people’s names, too. og:url: https://time.com/6997708/president-biden-trump-name-mix-ups-cognitive-decline/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9d17709c75826d0/698a589e929fad4f30bfcb98/Donald-Trump-Mix-Up-Names.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Blunders Names Joe Biden og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Is Also Bad With Names, Biden Defenders Point Out twitter:description: Biden’s supporters want people to remember the many times Trump has mixed up or forgotten people’s names, too. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9d17709c75826d0/698a589e929fad4f30bfcb98/Donald-Trump-Mix-Up-Names.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # As Biden’s Name Mix-Ups Draw Attention, Supporters Point to Trump’s Similar Gaffes > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: President Trump Calls Apple CEO Tim Cook 'Tim Apple' in Meeting [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Calls Apple CEO Tim Cook 'Tim Apple' in Meeting](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Pyun17Zl.m3u8) (0:29)  _Published 2019-03-07. Apple CEO Tim Cook showed off his sense of humor on Thursday after President Donald Trump referred to him as “Tim Apple,” as opposed to Tim Cook, the previous day_ by [Koh Ewe](https://time.com/author/koh-ewe/) ## Koh Ewe Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore. Jul 12, 2024 9:55 AM UTC  Donald Trump spends his 78th birthday at the Palm Beach Convention Center in Florida, June 14, 2024. Donald Trump spends his 78th birthday at the Palm Beach Convention Center in Florida, June 14, 2024. Joe Raedle—Getty Images by [Koh Ewe](https://time.com/author/koh-ewe/) ## Koh Ewe Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore. Jul 12, 2024 9:55 AM UTC As questions and concerns mount about President Joe Biden’s fitness to serve another term—or even continue campaigning as [the Democratic nominee](https://time.com/6993607/could-democrats-replace-biden-nominee-explainer/)—the 81-year-old [didn’t help his case](https://time.com/6997640/joe-biden-press-conference-2/) by making two embarrassing slips of the tongue on Thursday evening. Between introducing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “[President Putin](https://time.com/6997620/biden-zelensky-putin-press-conference/)” and referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as “[Vice President Trump](https://x.com/PeterHamby/status/1811604490962804877),” Biden’s faux pas are easy fodder for memes and mockery on social media, including from his Republican rival former President Donald Trump. > [](https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1811550796141506767) And it’s not the first time he’s mixed up names. Earlier this year, Biden [mistakenly referred](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-mixes-up-germanys-angela-merkel-with-late-helmut-kohl-2024-02-08/#:~:text=WASHINGTON%2C%20Feb%208%20%28Reuters%29,such%20mix%2Dup%20this%20week.) to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel as her late predecessor Helmut Kohl; similarly [confused](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/02/04/remarks-by-president-biden-at-a-campaign-event-las-vegas-nv/) French President Emmanuel Macron with his late predecessor François Mitterrand; and [called](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4457527-biden-mistakenly-calls-egyptian-leader-president-of-mexico/#:~:text=But%20when%20he%20fielded%20a,humanitarian%20material%20to%20get%20in.) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi the “President of Mexico.” But some of Biden’s defenders have been quick to point out that there’s [no shortage](https://x.com/KaivanShroff/status/1811529781294318035) of similar brow-raising blunders over the years from Trump, who is 78. > [](https://twitter.com/mmpadellan/status/1811551457067380796) > [](https://twitter.com/francismmaxwell/status/1811528830223528412) Indeed, in 2018, while Trump was still serving as President, he introduced [Marillyn Hewson](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2019/5567844/marillyn-hewson/), then CEO of Lockheed Martin, as “[Marillyn Lockheed](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-marillyn-lockheed-martin-ceo-hewson-2018-3)” at a White House event. At another White House meeting the following year, Trump famously referred to Apple CEO Tim Cook as “Tim Apple.” Last September, Trump appeared to mix up Biden with former President Barack Obama—[not for the first](https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2023/11/12/trump-has-confused-obama-and-biden-at-least-7-times-in-recent-months-amid-other-notable-gaffes/?sh=5bfdfaf04be6) or [last time](https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2023/11/12/trump-gaffe-new-hampshire-rally-asa-hutchinson-acostanr-vpx.cnn). The same month, he [stumbled](https://x.com/DeSantisWarRoom/status/1721591401647870424) over the distinction between former President George W. Bush and his brother Jeb Bush, who ran against Trump in the 2016 Republican primary. In October, Trump [called](https://www.politico.eu/article/trump-confuses-turkish-and-hungarian-leaders-orban-erdogan/) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán “the leader of Turkey.” And in November, he said, [apparently confusing](https://newrepublic.com/post/176816/cognitive-decline-trump-confuses-countries-asia) the population of North Korea or the leader of China, “Kim Jong Un leads 1.4 billion people, and there is no doubt about who the boss is. And they want me to say he’s not an intelligent man.” As recently as January, during a campaign speech, Trump [mixed up](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/19/us/politics/trump-haley-pelosi-jan-6.html) former House speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi and former Republican presidential candidate [Nikki Haley](https://time.com/6552240/nikki-haley-trump-iowa-republican-debate/), repeating the latter’s name several times as he talked about the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, which he has frequently [blamed](https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/08/politics/fact-check-trump-january-6/index.html) Pelosi and other Democrats for. > [](https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1749131121114091648) It’s not just the names of world leaders that Trump has trouble remembering. Last month, he told his supporters at a rally that Biden “should take a cognitive test like I did,” boasting that he had “aced” one administered by “[Doc Ronny Johnson](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-confuses-ronny-jacksons-name-bragging-taking-cognitive-test-rcna157432)”—apparently thinking of but misnaming former White House physician Ronny Jackson. While [experts have stated](https://apnews.com/article/biden-trump-age-concerns-analysis-verbal-gaffes-66c361880c9365b4d75ee82a8acced1b) that [mixing up or blanking on names](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/bidens-memory-issues-draw-attention-neurologists-weigh-rcna138135) is [not necessarily a sign of cognitive decline](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/do-not-read-too-much-into-biden-trump-verbal-stumbles-experts-caution-2024-02-14/), Trump has vehemently denied that he has made any blunders at all. “Tim Apple” was simply a moniker to “[save time & words](https://www.politico.eu/article/trump-says-he-called-apple-ceo-tim-apple-to-save-time-words/),” he said. He uses Obama’s name in place of Biden’s “[sarcastically](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/111482667285702469),” he’s claimed. And at a rally in February, he said he “[purposely interposed names](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-when-he-mixes-up-names-it-is-purpose-2024-02-15/),” after drawing scrutiny for his muddling of Pelosi and Haley. “I’m a great speaker,” Trump insisted. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6997708/president-biden-trump-name-mix-ups-cognitive-decline/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6997708/president-biden-trump-name-mix-ups-cognitive-decline/"},"headline":"As Biden’s Name Mix-Ups Draw Attention, Supporters Point to Trump’s Similar Gaffes","datePublished":"2024-07-12T09:55:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:50:24.338Z","description":"Biden’s supporters want people to remember the many times Trump has mixed up or forgotten people’s names, too.","url":"https://time.com/6997708/president-biden-trump-name-mix-ups-cognitive-decline/","keywords":["2024 Elections","overnight","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9d17709c75826d0/698a589e929fad4f30bfcb98/Donald-Trump-Mix-Up-Names.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Koh Ewe","jobTitle":"Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore.","url":"https://time.com/author/koh-ewe/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9d17709c75826d0/698a589e929fad4f30bfcb98/Donald-Trump-Mix-Up-Names.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Blunders Names Joe Biden","caption":"Donald Trump spends his 78th birthday at the Palm Beach Convention Center in Florida, June 14, 2024.","creditText":"Joe Raedle—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2024-election/","name":"2024 Elections"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6997708/president-biden-trump-name-mix-ups-cognitive-decline/","name":"As Biden’s Name Mix-Ups Draw Attention, Supporters Point to Trump’s Similar Gaffes"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Trump Calls Apple CEO Tim Cook 'Tim Apple' in Meeting","description":"Apple CEO Tim Cook showed off his sense of humor on Thursday after President Donald Trump referred to him as “Tim Apple,” as opposed to Tim Cook, the previous day","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Pyun17Zl/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-03-07T20:55:26.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Pyun17Zl.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6997708/president-biden-trump-name-mix-ups-cognitive-decline/","duration":"PT29S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6997708/president-biden-trump-name-mix-ups-cognitive-decline/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```