After Biden Flub, Pentagon Spokeswoman Says Austin Has ‘Absolute Confidence’ in President

Often when a high-level government official faces sharp criticism over a major policy flub or error in judgment, the White House is asked if the president still supports that top aide.

On Thursday, those roles were reversed when a Pentagon spokeswoman, Sabrina Singh, was asked for comment after President Biden appeared to forget the name of his own Secretary of Defense on Wednesday, referring to Lloyd J. Austin III as the “Black man” in an interview with Black Entertainment Television.

During the interview, Mr. Biden boasted about his record of appointing Black people in his administration and claimed he had been criticized for doing so.

“It’s all about treating people with dignity,” Mr. Biden said. “For example, look at the heat I’m getting because I named a, uh, the secretary of defense, the Black man.”

Ms. Singh told reporters that Mr. Austin had spent several hours last week in meetings with Mr. Biden during the NATO summit in Washington, and that “the secretary has absolute confidence in the president.”

Pressed for additional comment, Ms. Singh twice repeated that her boss had “absolute confidence” in Mr. Biden, the commander in chief, and referred further questions to the White House.