Biden accidentally announces $55 cap rent rises after struggling to read '5%' on teleprompter
President Biden accidentally flubbed the announcement of his proposed 5% cap on rent increases from major landlords, struggling to read the teleprompter and accidentally suggesting a $55 cap.
President Biden seemed to flub the announcement of his rent control policy agenda due to misreading the teleprompter.
The president spoke at the 115th NAACP National Convention on Tuesday in Las Vegas as part of an extensive outreach tour to court black voters.
During the speech, Biden intended to propose a 5% cap on rent increases for tenants under major landlords, but he struggled to read the teleprompter.
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"Look, folks, the idea, the idea that corporate-owned housing is able to raise your rent, 300, 400 bucks a month or something?" Biden told the audience. "Well, I’m about to announce that they can’t raise it more than…"
Biden then took a long pause and leaned in to look more carefully at the teleprompter before finishing the sentence, "…55 dollars."
The crowd cheered after a moment, and the apparent mistake went unacknowledged.
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Biden had previously gotten the figure correct when he previewed the proposal at the NATO conference last week.
"It’s time things get back in order a little bit," Biden said at the time. "If I’m re-elected, we’re going to make sure that rents are kept at 5% increase."
The Biden administration ignored the NAACP flub when they announced the proper figure via an official statement and fact sheet released on Wednesday.
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"I’m sending a clear message to corporate landlords: If you raise rents more than 5%, you should lose valuable tax breaks," Biden said via social media. "Families deserve housing that’s affordable – it's part of the American dream."
The proposed rule would apply to landlords with more than 50 units, which would cover more than 20 million units or about half the rental market in the country, according to a fact sheet from the administration.
Fox News Digital's Megan Henney contributed to this report.