“And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has both courage and determination, ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.”
But president joe biden was not referring to Vladimir PutinI was talking about the Ukrainian leader. President Volodymyr Zelenskyywho was standing next to him.
The error instantly became a headline for the NATO summit, which otherwise went off without a hitch.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended Biden, saying: “Mistakes happen, and if you always keep an eye on everyone, you will find enough.”
But questions about the president’s fitness to serve four more years – or win the November election – continue to swirl. Here are some of the president’s other mistakes in recent years.
Referring to Kamala Harris as ‘Vice President Trump’
At the same conference, he was asked about his vice president. Kamala Harris and mistakenly called her “Vice President Trump.”
“Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump as vice president if she wasn’t qualified to be president. So start there,” he said.
He also struggled to find the words “chiefs of staff,” mistakenly referring to the group of the country’s top uniformed military leaders as “commander in chief,” the title he holds as president.
Confusing European leaders
In February, President Biden wrongly claimed to have met Francois Mitterrand, who died in 1996, at the 2021 G7 summit.
The same week, he said he had spoken with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who died in 2017, about the January 6 riots, which occurred in 2021.
Read more:
Biden campaign ‘quietly sizing up Harris’
Starmer says the relationship with the United States is “stronger than ever”
Irish blunders
Last year, the president confused the name of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team with that of the reviled British paramilitary force Black and Tans during a visit to Ireland.
He said: “See this tie I’ve got, this shamrock tie? It was given to me by one of these lads here, who’s a great rugby player who beat the Black and Tans.”
President Biden corrected himself during the speech and the White House said it was “very clear” to Irish rugby fans that the president was referring to the New Zealand rugby team.
And in 2015, when he was vice president, he made an awkward joke when then-Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny visited his Washington home on St. Patrick’s Day.
“Anyone wearing orange is not welcome… just kidding,” he said, wearing a green tie as they smiled for a photo.
Orange is the color associated with the Protestant majority in Northern Ireland, while green is used as a symbol by Irish nationalists, mostly Catholic.
Nancy Pelosi
He also praised Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who he said “helped rescue the economy during the Great Depression.”
I meant the great recession of 2008, rather than the economic crisis of the early 20th century.
Declaration of Independence
In 2020, President Biden appeared to renounce a quote from the Declaration of Independence.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women were created by go-, you know, you know!” he said during a speech.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
