Joe Biden mistakenly referred to Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin” at the NATO summit, just hours after his allies warned his chances of winning the US election are zero.
The American president was speaking in Washington at the end of the three-day summit and made the mistake of introducing the Ukrainian president.
“Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden said, referring to Zelenskyy before correcting himself.
“President Putin? I’m going to beat President Putin, President Zelenskyy. I’m very focused on beating Putin,” he added.
“I’m better,” Zelenskyy joked in response.
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Biden’s summit misstep comes just hours after some of his closest allies said they now see his chances of winning the US election as nil and that he will “never recover” from concerns about his mental health. .
Several allies, including three directly involved in efforts to re-elect him as US president, told Sky News sister network NBC News that they believe he should drop out of the race.
They said the sentiment that he should stand down and allow another Democrat to fight the presidential election is widespread and includes aides, operatives and officials tasked with guiding his campaign to victory.
mr biden has faced a torrent of questions about his suitability to run over the past two weeks following a disastrous debate against his opponent. donald trump.
The White House was also forced to deny was being treated for Parkinson’s disease following reports that a specialist doctor had visited the president several times over the past year.
Biden’s doctor released a letter Tuesday saying he has shown no symptoms of Parkinson’s or any other neurological disease.
A Biden campaign official told NBC News: “He needs to drop out of school.”
A second person working to elect him said: “No one involved in the effort believes he has a path.”
A third close to the campaign said the current situation was unsustainable and they didn’t see how Biden could win.
All spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not want to be seen as damaging to a candidate they hold dear for his victory over Trump in 2020 and his political victories in the White House.
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On the other hand, a veteran Democratic presidential campaign strategist told the Reuters news agency: “We have this window and the White House is running out of time, which is very selfish. We are all waiting for Joe Biden to come back. fuck”. , which is not a good position to be in.”
Two others close to Biden said they had not lost all hope of a turnaround, but saw it as an increasingly unlikely outcome and thought defeating Trump in November should take priority over backing the president.
“The question for me, and for many of us, is: Who is the best person to beat Donald Trump?” said another person working to elect Biden. “There are many of us who are truly blue and are questioning our initial thoughts on the matter.”
However, Biden campaign spokesperson TJ Ducklo told NBC News that this was “patently false” and that the team “stands with the president.”
The White House has insisted that Biden will continue to run and “turn the page” in the debate, even though some opinion polls show Trump’s lead widening and swing states leaning Republican.
Officials and allies have previously said that Biden’s decision to run for reelection at age 81 centered on his belief that he was the best Democratic candidate to beat Trump.
He was said to be skeptical about his vice president, Kamala Harris,’s ability to win over middle-of-the-road voters, especially in critical swing states, according to Reuters news agency sources.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
