Joe Biden appears to confuse Donald Trump with George W. Bush during virtual campaign event

Donald Trump has mocked Joe Biden as being at “50 per cent” mental capacity, while suggesting his rival has “waved a white flag on life”.

Donald Trump says Joe Biden is at “50 per cent” mental capacity, while suggesting his rival has “waved a white flag on life”.

It comes after Mr Trump mocked the Democratic presidential nominee for appearing to forget the name of his opponent during a virtual campaign event on Sunday.

Mr Biden, 77, appeared alongside wife Jill Biden for the I Will Vote Concert live-stream, which featured artists including Pink, Cher and John Legend as well as actresses Amy Schumer and Helen Mirren, among others.

“This is the most consequential – not because I’m running but because of who I’m running against – this is the most consequential election in a long, long, long time,” Mr Biden said.

“And the character of the country, in my view, is literally on the ballot. What kind of country are we gonna be? Four more years of George, uh … George, uh … he, uh … gonna find ourselves in a position where, if uh, Trump gets elected, uh, we’re gonna be, uh, we’re gonna be in a different world.”

Joe Biden confuses President Trump with George W. Bush: “because of who I’m running against…George, ah, George”https://t.co/Xbg6secj8T pic.twitter.com/7fTukXl7rS

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 26, 2020

The clip was seized upon by Republicans, who suggested Mr Biden had confused Mr Trump with George W. Bush – or possibly his father, George H.W. Bush.

George W. Bush was in office when Mr Biden ran alongside then Senator Barack Obama in 2008.

Others said the Democratic nominee, who is known for verbal gaffes and stuttered as a child, simply misspoke and that he was addressing George Lopez, who was interviewing him.

Washington Post “Fact Checker” Meg Kelly gave the claim “Four Pinocchios”, arguing the “most obvious George that Biden could be referring to” was George Lopez.

Speaking at a rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Monday, the President mocked Mr Biden for the gaffe.

“Did you see when he called me George?” Mr Trump asked the crowd.

“I don’t know if I like George. What a mess. He called me George.”

Mr Trump said he didn’t know whether he “should be insulted or happy about it”, before saying he was “sort of insulted”.

He said that’s the “first time that’s happened to me in a long time”.

Moments ago, as Biden starts to stumble with a question about court-packing, his staff starts escorting the camera away... pic.twitter.com/wdVyFeG1wf

— TV News HQ (@TVNewsHQ) October 26, 2020

Mr Trump suggested Mr Biden was “50 per cent there”, pointing to his head.

He earlier made similar comments on Twitter.

“Joe Biden called me George yesterday,” he wrote. “Couldn’t remember my name. Got some help from the anchor to get him through the interview. The Fake News Cartel is working overtime to cover it up!”

Speaking to reporters before the rally, Mr Trump was asked to respond to Mr Biden’s accusation that his strategy was to “wave the white flag of defeat” on the coronavirus.

Mr Biden was referring to comments made by White House chief of staff Mark Meadows over the weekend that the US was “not going to control” the pandemic.

Mr Trump hit back that Mr Biden had “waved a white flag on life”. “This guy doesn’t leave his basement. He’s a pathetic candidate, I will tell you that,” the President told reporters.

Meanwhile, Mr Biden made another embarrassing slip-up during his 60 Minutes interview which also aired on Sunday.

Discussing his corporate tax plans, Mr Biden suggested he could send “every qualified person to a four-year college in their state for $US150 billion”.

60 Minutes fact-checked the claim, which was disputed by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Centre.

“After our interview, Mr Biden’s staff told us he misspoke, and that the cost of free public college could be twice as much as he said,” host Norah O’Donnell told viewers.

At the final presidential debate in Tennessee last week, Mr Biden at one point mistakenly referred to the far-right Proud Boys as the “Poor Boys”, generating amusement online.

They can't use debate prep as an excuse anymore. https://t.co/iXFkLKFoxO

— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) October 25, 2020

Several commentators noted there were times the former Vice President appeared to lose focus during the debate.

“There were clearly times when Joe Biden seemed to falter a little bit in making his point or finishing his sentence,” Fox News host and first debate moderator Chris Wallace said afterwards.

Republicans have stepped up attacks on Mr Biden’s mental fitness in recent weeks, after appearing to back away from the issue amid fears it could backfire.

Mr Trump, 74, earlier this month tweeted that his rival had “dementia”, a word he had previously avoided using, later telling a rally that he was mentally “shot”.

After that rally the President tweeted a photoshopped image depicting Mr Biden in a wheelchair in a nursing home with the words “Biden for Resident”.

With nine days to go until the election on November 3, the two candidates have markedly different schedules.

Mr Biden had no in-person events planned for Sunday and his campaign called a “lid” at midday ahead of his evening appearance at the virtual concert.

EPIC!! @realDonaldTrump stops at Treworgy Family Orchards in Levant, Maine—a last minute addition to the day!!! #MAGA🇺🇸🦅#VOTE pic.twitter.com/bMY4oKdxjB

— Dan Scavino🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) October 25, 2020

Mr Trump, meanwhile, spent Sunday campaigning in New England, addressing an airport rally in New Hampshire and visiting an apple orchard in Maine.

The Republican has repeatedly mocked the Biden campaign for calling early “lids”, a term used by reporters when the candidate is effectively done for the day.

“Today, you know what happened, right? He put the lid on,” he told the Manchester, New Hampshire rally on Sunday.

“Do you know what the lid is? He’s constantly putting the lid on. The lid means, I guess it’s referring to a garbage can, right? You put the lid. I dunno, there’s something going on. Somebody said it’s strategy, it’s not, because really strategy would be coming out.”

Mr Trump suggested Mr Biden was hiding because he was scared of making a “stupid statement”.