What sort of communications shop are the folks in President Joe Biden’s administration running? A haphazard one, apparently, as the president of the United States recently butchered the name of the Food and Drug Administration in a pre-taped address regarding the baby formula crisis as he failed to convey confidence and assuredness to the American people on the topic.
Boston radio legend Howie Carr flagged the goof, tweeting, “In a PRE-TAPED segment, Brandon misidentifies the Food and Drug Administration as the ‘Federal’ Drug Administration.”
Biden was announcing, “The FDA will allow formula from outside the US to be safely imported, which will quickly increase supply.”
As Carr added in disbelief, not only did nobody on his communications team catch the mistake, “they put the misidentification in the chyrons!”
In a PRE-TAPED segment, Brandon misidentifies the Food and Drug Administration as the "Federal" Drug Administration. Not only does nobody catch it, but they put the misidentification in the chyrons! @gop @RNCResearch @tomselliott @disclosetv @bennyjohnson pic.twitter.com/6j0SGqcHdD
— Howie Carr (@HowieCarrShow) May 17, 2022
It seems like a minor gaffe, but amidst the volleying back and forth between administration officials as to when the Biden team knew about the issue, who exactly is to blame for the baby formula crisis, and how they intend to solve it — the mistake speaks volumes.
For example, on Friday, Biden implied that the baby formula shortage was hard to predict. His administration needed “better mind readers” and was only answering questions about the issue because it was in the news “all of a sudden.”
Three days later, his Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra said that the FDA (again, that’s Food and Drug, not Federal Drug) had kept him apprised of the issue since “last year.”
Likewise, an anonymous administration official told reporters on Monday, “I can assure you that this is not new to the White House’s radar. We have been working on this issue since the very beginning, in the days leading up to the recall and ever since then.”
In light of that comment, the administration’s baby emergency website seems even more ineffective than previously reported.
On Friday, former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced a website marketed as a one-stop-shop for parents finding the baby formula. Instead, according to CNN, the information provided led to frustrations and lengthy wait times for anxious parents. How could the Biden team be working on this issue every day for months, only to reveal a website that failed to adequately address the main problem?
Paying attention to details is important for any successful organization — just listen to Biden himself.
In March 2021, Biden said in a prepared speech regarding another policy item, “Details matter, because we have to continue to build confidence in the American people that their government can function for them and deliver.”
As thousands of moms look for the government and private sector to “function for them and deliver” baby formula, Biden’s latest gaffe on the topic — during a recorded video no less — is only more evidence that the administration has not been paying close attention to the details on the issue.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.