President Biden referred to defeated Democratic ex-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe as the state’s “real governor” Tuesday — even though Biden has made Donald Trump’s failure to accept the result of their 2020 presidential election a centerpiece of his re-election bid.

“Hello, Virginia! And the real governor, Terry McAuliffe,” the 81-year-old president said while gesturing to McAuliffe as Biden began a campaign speech in Manassas focused on abortion rights.

Virginia’s Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, who defeated McAulliffe in 2021 by 2 percentage points, tweeted Tuesday evening that he was the real deal.

“Mr. President, I’m right here,” Youngkin wrote.

Youngkin spokesman Rob Damschen added on X, “There are only two options here: Either the President doesn’t know who is Governor of Virginia right now, or he’s denying the results of Virginia’s 2021 election.”

In an e-mail blast, Youngkin’s political office said, “Joe Biden — underwater among Virginians by 17 points according to recent polling — came to the Commonwealth today to spout election denialism.”

The Republican National Committee also tweeted video of the event captioned, “Election Denier Joe Biden.”

A White House official insisted that Biden was not denying the Virginia election results.

“The President was making a joke about McAuliffe’s previous term as governor,” the official told The Post in a statement. “He congratulated Governor Youngkin on his election out of the gate and has worked across the aisle with him ever since.”

McAuliffe was the governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018 and chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005.

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment — as Republicans accused Biden of hypocrisy.

Conservative activist Jenny Beth Martin asked on social media whether “this means it’s acceptable to the [media] and Dems to say, ‘the real President Donald Trump,’ since Biden implied [Youngkin is] not the real governor?” 

Biden made Trump’s refusal to accept his 2020 defeat, which culminated in the 2021 Capitol riot, a thrust of 2022 Democratic congressional campaign efforts and delivered his first campaign speech of 2024 on the topic.

Biden returned to that criticism of Trump later in his Tuesday speech, arguing that voters need to “defend democracy” from the former president.

“I believe 2024 is going to be the most important election we’ve had since 1864, I mean it. And the reasons are clear. Democracy is on the ballot. Freedom is on the ballot,” Biden said.