President Joe Biden said Wednesday he continues to suffer from his childhood stutter, telling an audience he has not fully conquered it.
“I didn’t really beat my stutter — still occasionally I do,” he said, recalling the struggle he experienced as a child.
The president spoke about stuttering during an event at the White House celebrating the Teachers of the Year.
“I stuttered badly, and when you stutter, everyone thinks you have to be stupid or totally incompetent,” he said.
Biden frequently talks about his childhood stutter, usually among students and teachers when he is talking about the importance of learning.
The president expressed frustration that people still laugh and mock people who have a stuttering problem.
“If you notice. It’s the only infirmity a child can talk about, an adult can talk about having had, that people… think they can laugh. Think it’s funny,” Biden said.
The president cited the 2010 movie The King’s Speech, which highlighted the difficulties a political leader faced when having a speech impediment.
He said when he watched the film, which told the story of King George VI, in the theater with his wife, Jill Biden, it “brought back all of the memories” he experienced as a child.
Biden held up a copy of his large print notes claiming he used similar slash mark notations in his copy, just as the king used for his speech.
“He does his speeches exactly as I did,” Biden said.
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