His political opponents have mocked Biden for appearing to shake hands with thin air. Photo / Supplied
His political opponents have mocked Biden for appearing to shake hands with thin air. Photo / Supplied
Republicans have mocked Joe Biden for "shaking hands with thin air' after the US President appeared confused at the end of a speech on supply chains.
The 79-year-old had just finished delivering a nearly 40-minute speech in Greensboro, North Carolina, when he turned to his right and stuck out his hand.
Biden then lingered on stage with his back to the audience, turning left before descending to the right.
A number of his political adversaries, including Republic Senator Ted Cruz questioned Biden's mental aptitude.
Supporters have suggested he was addressing the audience to the side of the stage, shooting out his hand as a gesture of recognition.
His speech had been aimed at ramping up pressure on Congress to increase funding for semiconductor funding amid a shortfall of the key component.
At one point, Biden claimed to have served as a "full professor" at the University of Pennsylvania, despite never teaching a class there.
As his political rivals questioned the President's mental state, Cruz shared the video of his departure from the stage with a wide-eyed emoji as the caption.
Harmeet K Dhillon, a former vice chairwoman of the California Republican Party, wrote: "I repeat, where are the White House and Biden family handlers whose job it is to make him look good?
"This is truly bizarre unless they want him to look like a dementia patient."
Robby Starbuck, who is running for Congress in Tennessee's upcoming Republican primary, said: "Oh man. The music makes it 10x worse. This man is unfit to be President. Period."
His political opponents have mocked Biden for appearing to shake hands with thin air. Photo / Supplied
Biden's gaffes have become more frequent in recent months. Earlier this month, he said First Lady Jill Biden had served as Barack Obama's vice president, a job he had held himself for eight years.
And he irked fellow Western leaders after going off-script to call for regime change in Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine when he visited Warsaw.
Days later, Biden was spotted holding a cheat sheet as he clarified his claim that Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power", in an apparent attempt to avoid another gaffe.
The comment triggered an international backlash and forced the White House to issue a clarification.
This week, Biden was mocked on a Saudi-Arabian sketch show, in which the President was portrayed as doddering and forgetful, in footage that has gone viral.
The one minute Saturday Night Live-style clip shows an actor playing Biden wandering off stage, forgetting the name of the Russian president, falling asleep mid-sentence and calling his Vice President "First Lady".
Earlier this month, Biden was outshone at the White House by a returning Barack Obama.
Biden was captured on camera raising his hands in the air in apparent frustration as he stood to one side while fellow politicians swarmed to greet the former president.
The clip was shared widely by the GOP, with the Republican National Committee mocking the Democratic president and saying: "This is so sad".
Obama had been invited back to the White House by Biden, his former vice president, to celebrate the 12th anniversary of his signature healthcare bill often referred to as "Obamacare".
The White House was also forced to correct an error by Biden after he said Americans who use renewable energy to power their homes could save "about $500 a month on average".
Hours after the speech, the White House sent out a transcript of the president's remarks with the word "month" crossed out and the word "year" added in brackets.
The series of blunders comes as Biden's poll numbers hit a new low during his presidency. A survey showed only 33 per cent of Americans approve of his job performance.
The figure in a Quinnipiac poll matched Biden's previous nadir in the same poll in January. In the latest findings, only 39 per cent said they approved of the US President's handling of the Ukraine crisis, while 48 per cent disapproved.
