US President Joe Biden accidentally introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as his Russian foe Vladimir Putin at the NATO summit on Thursday, a major blunder that came just hours before a press conference that could decide the fate of his re-election bid.
Zelensky, 81, quickly corrected his mistake, joking that he was “better” than Putin, but the gaffe raised concerns about Biden’s mental acuity after his poor performance in a debate against Donald Trump two weeks ago.
Announcing the NATO-Ukraine agreement at the summit in Washington, Biden said, “And now I want to turn it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has resolve, ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.”
Biden walked away from the lectern and came back and yelled: “President Putin! They’re going to defeat President Putin. President Zelenskyy — I’m so focused on defeating Putin that we have to worry about that. Well, Mr. President.”
The gaffe prompted surprise from those in the room, but Zelensky, Ukraine’s wartime leader against Russia’s 2022 invasion, laughed it off.
Fellow leaders at the summit asked questions about Biden, and their answers were largely supportive.
“Slips of the tongue are common, and if you keep a close eye on everyone you will find quite a few,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said after the president’s latest gaffe.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Biden appeared “in charge,” while British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “in good form.”
But his latest verbal gaffe couldn’t have come at a worse time, as Biden is set to hold what the White House calls a “Big Boy” press conference later Thursday, his first major appearance since the debate.
His solo appearance with reporters, a rare unexpected meeting, comes amid growing calls in the Democratic Party for him to step down from his position.
The press conference was scheduled to begin at 6:30 pm (2230 GMT) but is expected to be delayed by about an hour.
– Increasing pressure –
There is a constant demand from the Democrats that Biden should give up his candidacy for 2024.
Hollywood actor and Democratic supporter George Clooney called on Biden to drop out of the race, and party stalwart Nancy Pelosi declined to fully endorse him.
About 14 Democratic members of the House of Representatives, along with one Democratic senator, have openly urged the man who defeated Trump four years ago to withdraw from the election.
A poll released Thursday showed that more than half of Democrats believe Biden should end his bid for a second term, and two-thirds of Americans believe he should withdraw from the race.
But according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll, the former president and the current president are neck and neck with 46 percent of the vote.
However, as the New York Times reports, Biden’s campaign has been quietly testing the strength of Vice President Kamala Harris in a potential contest against Trump.
Meanwhile, some of the president’s former aides are discussing how to convince him to step down, the paper said, citing unnamed sources.
The White House said the report was “categorically” false.
Biden, once a talkative man, has held fewer news conferences than his predecessors, and recently he has held briefings only with foreign leaders, limiting each to two questions.
Along with the lack of interviews, critics have accused the White House of concealing the effects of age on America’s oldest president.
Biden described his debate fiasco as a “bad night” and blamed it on a cold and jet lag.
But Clooney sought to dismiss talk that it was a one-time incident, saying it was “devastating” to admit it, but signs of it were evident at a fundraising event he held in Los Angeles on June 15.
Biden has insisted he is committed to running in November, and there is no realistic way he can be ousted as he has the Democratic primary vote.
His campaign responded with a new ad campaign on Thursday, the final day of the NATO summit, describing Trump as Putin’s “pet dog.”
NATO allies also want assurances about Biden’s leadership abilities and fear a return to the isolationist, Putin-praising Trump could spell trouble for the alliance.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
