The Hill staff writers Alex Gangitano and Amie Parnes revived the often-mocked phrase "GOP seizes" on Wednesday to report on Republicans criticizing President Biden for his many frequent gaffes.
The Hill’s news page featured the headline "GOP seizes on Biden gaffes to attack competence" as Gangitano and Parnes described Republicans’ attacks.
"Republicans are seizing on recent gaffes from President Biden, putting a spotlight on his slip-ups to attack Biden’s competency ahead of both the midterms and a 2024 presidential race," they wrote.
The slip-up they primarily focused on was an incident from Sept. 28 when Biden called out the name of Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski while apparently forgetting that she was killed in a car accident almost two months prior.
President Joe Biden was questioned about appearing to call out the name of deceased Rep. Jackie Walorski during an event in September. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
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Gangitano and Parnes noted that Biden’s gaffes as well as his age have made up more "explicit" attacks from Republicans.
"The RNC did not make Biden’s age a central part of its criticism, but it is an implicit and sometimes explicit part of the attacks from various Republicans, who see perceptions of Biden’s age and competence as a potentially fruitful line of attack," Gangitano and Parnes wrote.
Although the mainstream media has largely ignored the "Where’s Jackie?" gaffe from the president, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre fielded several questions on Biden’s mistake, refusing to admit that he misspoke at the time.
Gangitano and Parnes also noted that Biden has frequently made gaffes since before his term as vice president under President Obama, "But today’s gaffes are being used by Republicans to question Biden’s competency, given his age."
Republicans and Democrats have questioned whether Biden's age will be a hindrance in running again in 2024. (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo)
The "seizes" headline was ridiculed by conservatives on Twitter for once again resorting to what many now see as a tired cliché.
Washington Examiner columnist Becket Adams joked, "confirmed: the ‘seize’ and ‘pounce’ trope is an intentional troll of right-wing twitter."
"HUGE if true: Political party notices and points out mistakes of public official from other political party," columnist Eddie Zipperer tweeted.
"Two people on the byline for this one," The Spectator contributing editor Stephen Miller joked.
"’Seizes?’ ‘Pounces’ What's wrong with ‘notices?’ or ‘Sees what everyone else sees’?" InsideSources managing editor Michael Graham remarked.
Claremont Institute communications director Nick Short wrote, "Labeling Biden’s daily examples of cognitive decline as merely ‘gaffes’, the media attacks the competence of the average American voter."
President Biden has made frequent embarrassing gaffes over the course of his presidential term. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
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The Hill was previously slammed in March for using the phrase "Republicans seize" to describe the GOP’s efforts to criticize the Democratic Party for rising gas prices.
"Republicans seize on rising gas prices amid Ukraine conflict," The Hill headline read. Gangitano was one of three reporters who got bylines on the piece.
Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.
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