Biden’s Blunder: Refers to Ukraine’s Zelensky as ‘President Putin’ in front of NATO leaders; watch

Jul 12, 2024 05:15 AM IST

Biden’s recent gaffe at the NATO summit, where he mistakenly referred to Zelensky as ‘Putin,’ has raised concerns about his accuracy in high-stakes settings.

President Joe Biden held a press conference, and the first thing he decided to do was raise eyebrows once again. The POTUS made a major verbal slip-up at the recent NATO summit, mistakenly referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as ‘President Putin’ in front of the assembled world leaders. The gaffe, which quickly caught the attention of the media and political commentators,highlights a series of similar missteps that have raised concerns about Biden’s focus and accuracy in high-stakes international settings.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the 75th anniversary of Nato at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, on Tuesday (AP)

Biden calls Zelensky as ‘Putin’ in NATO meeting

“And now I want to hand it over to the President of Ukraine, who has shown as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden said during the speech. He quickly realized his mistake and apologized. The embarrassing moment was witnessed by everyone present, with Biden explaining that it occurred because he was “so focused on beating” the Kremlin’s leader.

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While he might have let this mistake pass so easily, Democrats won’t. This flub is expected to intensify demands from Democratic members of Congress for the 81-year-old to withdraw from his reelection campaign. Initially hush-hush, now the party members are voicing concerns in all their glory, and the road to the White House for the POTUS in a rerun looks a little blurry.

Internet says ‘Biden is a mess’

“Disappointing. I was rooting for Joe through this mess,” a netizen exclaimed as they watched the gaffe broadcast live on the channel. “This is the worst gaffe Biden has had yet,” said another. “This is parody now. You couldn’t make this up if you tried,” said one more. “Kamala on deck. Not good for Republicans. She will be harder to beat than a dementia patient. Now Trump gets to be the one who gets criticized for old age. Democrats will push for more debates. Let the fun begin.”

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Democratic lawmakers want Biden to step aside

To date, a total of 13 Democrats from the House and one from the Senate have directly requested President Biden to exit the election. CBS reports that this group encompasses Lloyd Doggett of Texas, who was among the earliest to suggest Biden should relinquish his candidacy. On July 3, Raul Grijalva of Arizona told NYPOST that Biden “needs to shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat — and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race.”

Additional Democrats joining the chorus for Biden’s exit include Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, Angie Craig of Minnesota, and Adam Smith of Washington among others. This list of concerned voices continues to grow, with many expressing worries about Biden’s health and urging him to step down.

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