US President Joe Biden who is under intense scrutiny over his advanced age on Thursday introduced Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Russian President Vladimir Putin at a NATO event and later at a solo press conference in Washington mixes up the name of his vice president, Kamala Harris with the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
“And 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,” Biden,81, said at the NATO summit in Washington on July 10, drawing gasps from those in the room.
After a two second pause, he immediately corrected himself and said, “Going to beat President Putin, President Zelensky. I am so focused on beating Putin.”
Zelensky responded to Biden’s comments with “I am better (than Putin),” to which Biden replied “You are a hell of a lot better,” as some in the room laughed, before Zelensky began his own address.
Fellow leaders at the NATO summit fielded questions about Biden, and their answers have largely been supportive.
“We all slip up sometimes,” said French President Emmanuel Macron, “It’s happened to me and it could happen again tomorrow. I would ask for your indulgence.”
Later on at a solo press conference, Biden was repeatedly asked about the concerns over his age on his candidacy. He responded with “I’ve gotta finish the job.”
In an embarrassing gaffe, he mistakenly referred to his Vice-President Kamala Harris as “Vice-President Trump”.
“Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if she was not qualified to be president. So start there,” Biden stated as he responded to a question about his confidence in Harris.
CNN reported that Trump pounced on the verbal stumble to to post on Truth Social to highlight the moment.
“Crooked Joe begins his ‘Big Boy’ Press Conference with, ‘I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, though I think she was not qualified to be president.’ Great job, Joe!” Trump wrote, along with a video clip of the moment, CNN reported.
Biden’s re-election campaign has been struggling for the past two weeks, following his debate performance against his opponent, Donald Trump, who is 78 years old.
Meanwhile, four more Democrats in the House of Representatives called on Biden to end his campaign: Brad Schneider of Illinois, Greg Stanton of Arizona, Ed Case of Hawaii, and Hillary Scholten of Michigan.
“For our country’s sake, it is time for the President to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders,” Stanton said in a prepared statement.
Following this, some Senate Democrats said they were still uncertain about Biden’s ability to win after meeting with Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and other top aides.