Joe Biden stumbles over the script of his speech on gun control and refers to the ATF as the AFT

Joe Biden stumbles over the script of his speech on gun control and TWICE refers to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as the ‘AFT’ instead of the ATF

  • Joe Biden on Thursday addressed gun control measures he wants to see passed
  • Biden twice erred with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
  • Biden referred to the ATF as the AFT, sparking much derision from critics
  • The 78-year-old has battled with a stutter throughout his life 
  • The NRA responded with an emoji showing crying with laughter at his error
  • ‘Please, tell me again how he doesn’t have dementia’ responded another critic 


Joe Biden has been mocked for twice stumbling over the acronym for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) – referring to the federal organization as the AFT.

‘Today, I’m proud to nominate David Chipman to serve as the director of the AFT,’ he said. 

‘David knows the AFT well.’ 

Biden has been open about his lifelong battle to overcome a crippling stutter. 

Joe Biden on Thursday mispronounced the name of the AFT twice, calling it the ATF

Joe Biden on Thursday mispronounced the name of the AFT twice, calling it the ATF

The National Rifle Agency led the ridicule, tweeting to their 842,000 followers:  ‘Someone tell Biden it is “ATF” – not “AFT”,’ with an emoji showing crying with laughter.

Radio show host Tim Young tweeted: ‘If Biden can call the ATF the “AFT,” he’s not mentally sound enough to be signing ANY executive orders.’ 

A man joked: ‘It won’t be long before he call himself Bide Joe and USA as UAS…’ 

Another said: ‘This is why his handlers won’t let him talk to the press by himself lol.’  

Biden was speaking at a modest White House ceremony Thursday to announce a half-dozen executive actions to combat what he called an ‘epidemic and an international embarrassment’ of gun violence in America.

But he said much more is needed. And while Biden had proposed the most ambitious gun-control agenda of any modern presidential candidate, his moves underscored his limited power to act alone on guns with difficult politics impeding legislative action on Capitol Hill.

Biden’s new steps include a move to crack down on ‘ghost guns,’ homemade firearms that lack serial numbers used to trace them and are often purchased without a background check. 

He is also moving to tighten regulations on pistol-stabilizing braces like the one used in Boulder, Colorado, in a shooting last month that left 10 dead.  

The president’s actions delivered on a pledge he made last month to take what he termed immediate ‘common-sense steps’ to address gun violence, after a series of mass shootings drew renewed attention to the issue. 

His announcement came the day after yet another episode – a mass shooting in South Carolina, where five people were killed. 

It came shortly before Thursday night’s Texas shooting, in which a man opened fire at a Texas cabinet-making company where he worked, killing one person and wounding five others before shooting and wounding a state trooper. He has been arrested and charged with murder. 

source: dailymail.co.uk