‘I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna go to bed’: Sleepy Joe Biden’s press conference shambles

US President Joe Biden holds a press conference in Hanoi overnight. Picture: AFP

Joe Biden’s press conferences have become must-see television – not for their rarity, policy revelations or geopolitical insights, but for the same reason we tend to stare at traffic accidents.

The president’s latest outing in Hanoi on Sunday (Monday AEST) didn’t disappoint, given at the tail end of a whirlwind trip to India for G20 meetings and Vietnam.

Indeed it may well be his last press conference for some time given how pear-shaped it went after the president finished mumbling some paragraphs about “investing in inclusive growth” and “advancing health security” from the teleprompter.

It wasn’t just that he then declared climate change more dangerous than a nuclear war, a claim ridiculous even by the standards of climate change fanatics. “The only existential threat humanity faces even more frightening than a … than a nuclear war is global warming going above 1.5 degrees in the next 20 … 10 years. That’d be real trouble,” he explained, promising to “triple the renewable capacity for as it relates to global warming by the year 20-2030!”

WATCH: Joe Biden says climate change ‘is even more frightening than a nuclear war’ pic.twitter.com/PF2tPdJmsC

— Daniel Turner (@DanielTurnerPTF) September 10, 2023

Whether or not that was a new US policy, or even made sense at all, was the least of the White House’s problems, given the gaffe-riddled performance that followed.

“You know, it’s … and one … one of them is … there’s … there’s a movie about John Wayne. He’s an Indian scout. And they’re trying to get the Ap- … I think it was the Apache … one … one of the great tribes of America back on the reservation,” Mr Biden volunteered in answering a question on climate change.

“And the Indian scout … the Indian looks at John Wayne and points to the Union soldier and says, ‘He’s a lying, dog-faced pony soldier’. Well, there’s a lot of lying, dog-faced pony soldiers out there,” he revealed to a bemused audience in downtown Hanoi.

BIDEN: "The Indian looks at John Wayne and points to the Union soldier and says, 'He's a lying, dog-faced pony soldier!' Well, there's a lot of lying, dog-faced pony soldiers out there about global warming!" pic.twitter.com/d98IdhKLRA

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 10, 2023

During the painful question and answer session – restricted to female journalists hand-picked by the White House – the president made clear he had little control over what was going on.

“They told me … they gave me five people here,” Mr Biden said. “I’m just following my orders here. Staff, is there anybody I haven’t spoken to?” he added, as he fumbled with a list of names.

I have never seen this in my entire life.

Joe Biden's press conference was ended and cut short by a staffer during a rambling Biden moment.

What is going on?!?!?pic.twitter.com/7dA1J8xjKn

— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen_1) September 10, 2023

Karine Jean-Pierre, his White House Press secretary, came to the rescue: “Anita — Anita from VOA,” she helpfully cooed over the PA system, as her boss struggled to find the right name.

Anita herself couldn’t help a joke: “I hope you didn’t think that calling only on women would get you softballs tonight,” she said, boldly assuming the president was aware of that fact.

“If you send me a softball, I wouldn’t know what to do with it. I’d probably strike out even worse,” the president said, seemingly unaware he’d struck out quite badly already.

At one point, he walked inexplicably out of the frame.

Joe Biden's powerful quotes at a Hanoi, Vietnam international press conference: "I'm just following my orders here" and "I don't know about you, but I am going to go to bed". We have reached peak gerontocracy. #biden#vietnam#potuspic.twitter.com/7lrYXFWyd8

— Stellar Man (@stellarman22) September 10, 2023

In any case, the president, 80, had had enough. “I tell you what, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to go to bed,” he candidly revealed, after battling largely incoherently through questions about China, Russia and climate change. By this time, KJP, as she’s known in political circles, had had enough too. “Thank — thank you, everybody, this ends the conference,” she said as the president was trying to finish a sentence.

Immediately, the organisers cranked up the music as the president was still speaking, a piano lounge ensemble that unfortunately would have failed to soothe a rattled White House communications team. The press conference was over, but the reaction was just beginning: another train wreck that will only fuel already mounting speculation the president isn’t capable of running for re-election next November, let alone another four years in the White House.

Sleepy Joe! | Biden tells Vietnam press conference 'I'm going to bed!' 🤣 pic.twitter.com/Ua0tI8zbpa

— 1776 (@TheWakeninq) September 10, 2023

Social media lit up with condemnation, overshadowing whatever message the White House had hoped to convey. One can only imagine what Presidents Xi or Putin thought of the performance.

The president provided conservative news networks with hours of amusing content for the months ahead. But jokes aside, it was depressing to see an older man embarrass himself so much.