Joe Biden repeats the same story almost word for word, minutes apart, as concerns about age grow.

Joe Biden struggles with a microphone cord before speaking at the UN on Wednesday Photo: GETTY IMAGES

US President Joe Biden has raised further concerns about his age after he repeated the same joke for a few minutes during a speech.

Biden, 80, spoke twice at a campaign reception in Manhattan on Wednesday about the 2017 Charlottesville riots during a 20-minute speech.

At an event hosted by billionaire real estate heiress Amy Goldman Fowler, Biden told the audience he had «no intention of running» for the White House after Barack Obama's two administrations.

But then, he said, «In August 2017, Charlottesville, Virginia was born.”

“You remember how these people literally came out of the fields with torches, with Nazi swastikas, holding them forward and singing the same vicious anti-Semitic bile — the same bile — the bile that was sung — in Germany in the early 30s. And the young woman was killed. A young woman died,” he added.

According to the official White House transcript, Mr. Biden then said that after the rally, Donald Trump was asked, “What do you think will happen?”

“He was the sitting President,” — Biden said. «And he said, 'I thought there were very good people on both sides. And I mean that sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, that's when I decided I would run again.»

Biden went on to describe how his grandchildren urged him to challenge Trump despite the expected backlash.

1304 Biden is the oldest person ever to serve as US President

But then the US President started talking about Charlottesville again.

He said, “You probably remember those people from Charlottesville when they came out of the fields with swastikas in their hands, and remember those with torches and the Ku—accompanied by the Ku Klux Klan.”< /p>

“And on top of that they had white supremacists. Either way, they made a strong case for how terrible it is. And at the same time a young woman was killed.

“And my predecessor, as I said, was asked what he thought. He said: «There are very good people on both sides.» Well, it kept ringing in my head.

“And so, frankly, I couldn’t stay silent any longer,” Mr. Biden said. “So I decided I would run. And it turned out that I ran because I thought everything this country stood for was available for the first time in my career.»

During the speech, Mr. Biden also made reference to his age, saying: “As you may have noticed, a lot of people seem to be a little fixated on my age.

“I understand. And believe me, I know better than anyone.»

Then he said, «With age comes wisdom.»

A poll published by the Wall Street Journal earlier this month showed that 73 percent of Americans, including two-thirds of Democrats, believe Biden is too old to run again for president next November.