President Joe Biden once again added to growing concerns on Thursday that he is not mentally fit for office when he introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russian President Vladimir Putin during a press conference at the NATO summit in Washington.
The screw up comes as Biden has faced growing calls to quit his re-election campaign from members within his own party and throughout the media over the last two weeks following his disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump.
“Now I want to hand it over to the President of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination,” Biden said. “Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.”
The mistake is even more embarrassing considering that Putin started a major war in Europe with his invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
JOE BIDEN: “Now I want to hand it over to the President of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.” pic.twitter.com/91Rw2B25GR
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 11, 2024
A House Democrat responded to the clip by telling ABC News: “This is the greatest introduction of all time … It would be like introducing Winston Churchill and saying ladies and gentlemen Hitler.”
After walking away from the microphone for a brief moment, Biden realized that he screwed up Zelensky’s name and stepped back up and offered an excuse for why he messed it up.
“President Putin? We’re gonna beat President Putin,” he said. “President Zelenskyy! I’m so focused on beating Putin. We got to worry about it — anyway, Mr. President.”
Following the mistake, a longtime adviser to Biden told CNN: “I just think there is an unfortunate inevitability to all this. I am sad because I have known him a long time and he is a good man. I am angry at his inner circle who have not served him well and at times committed malpractice in their service. And I am frustrated at the family for not expanding the circle so there would be a truth teller or two in their midst. They created a perfect storm of an echo chamber and it is biting them all in the a*s.”
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