President Biden needed stage directions from a military member during the solemn wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during Veterans Day observances at Arlington National Cemetery Saturday.
Biden required assistance from a member of the tomb’s honor guard to place the large floral arrangement on a stand set on the plaza in front of the memorial honoring America’s missing and unidentified war dead.
He stepped back from the wreath and hesitated for a moment before making the sign of the cross on himself.
He backed away, turned, and took several steps away from the wreath — and then turned back and approached the officer again.
Then he backed away, turned, and took several steps away from the wreath — and then turned back and approaching the officer again.
The military member pointed a gloved hand back toward Vice President Kamala Harris, who was standing several feet away, and the president returned to his mark beside her.
Harris and Denis McDonough, Biden’s Secretary for Veterans Affairs, both appeared to be suppressing grins as the president dithered.
Republicans expressed dismay at Biden’s obvious confusion.
“God help us,” New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew told The Post.
“We have a president that doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going.”
“Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, it does,” said Rep. Darrell Issa of California.
“It’s sad to see President Biden’s cognitive impairment over and over again,” said Staten Island’s Rep. Nicole Malliotakis.
“How is he running for re-election?”
Former president Donald Trump, speaking at a campaign rally in a high school gym in Claremont, New Hampshire, mocked Biden for his regular bouts of directional confusion.
“We have a guy in the White House who can’t put two sentences together, who couldn’t find his way off this stage,” Trump said, gesturing to the gym’s small stage – prompting laughter from the crowd.
“And this is the guy we have negotiating with Putin and with President Xi of China,” Trump said.
Biden, in a 14-minute speech following the wreath-laying ceremony during Arlington’s 70th annual National Veterans Day Observance, again invoked the memory of his late son Beau, who served a year-long Iraq deployment as a member of the National Guard.
“On this day, I can see my son, standing ramrod straight as I pinned his bars on him the day that he joined the Army National Guard in Delaware,” Biden said.
“I can still feel the overwhelming pride.”
The president also stumbled over the acronym LGBTQ+ as he attempted to boost his administration’s policies regarding gay and transgender military members.
“We have doubled down on our efforts to ensure … that no veteran is denied the honor they earn because there was discharged for being LBTQ plus,” he mumbled.
The Arlington commemoration followed a private reception in the White House East Room for veterans and military officials.
Biden, who will turn 81 later this month, has made frequent stumbles and gaffes in recent months — as polls show increasing numbers of voters doubt his ability to handle the rigors of the presidency.
Meanwhile, two of Trump’s Republican rivals issued Veterans Day messages to underscore their personal military ties.
“Proud of my veteran Michael Haley and the many men and women who have served to defend our freedoms,” former UN ambassador Nikki Haley posted to X, along with a photo of her husband Michael, a National Guard officer now on deployment in Africa.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted his thanks for “all who have worn the cloth of our country.”
“As a veteran myself, I am honored by the unwavering support we receive,” DeSantis, a former Navy lieutenant commander, wrote.
“I will always have the backs of our vets.”