Washington: His age has been as much in focus as his series of faux pas in public.
US President Joe Biden, who has refused to stand down from running for re-election despite his apparent health issues, added to his list of public gaffes — two more, in fact, in a single day.
Ironically, the 81-year-old Biden introduced Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky as his bitter Russian rival Vladimir Putin at the NATO Summit in Washington.
“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,” he said.
Zelensky, who stood next to Biden, looked nonplussed as he didn’t know how to react.
As he was walking away, Biden — who is already the oldest person to ever serve as the US president — realised his faux pas and corrected himself.
“President Putin, you’re going to beat President Putin, President Zelensky. I am so focused on beating Putin,” Biden mumbled.
Zelensky, who had by then recovered from his moment of amazement, responded: “I am better (than Putin).”
Biden quipped: “You are a hell of a lot better.”
Watch the video which has gone viral:
Biden just called Zelensky, Putin 💀 pic.twitter.com/LcLfLx0Tl1
— Tommy Robinson 🇬🇧 (@TRobinsonNewEra) July 11, 2024
Some hours earlier on Thursday, Biden made another blunder when he referred to his deputy Kamala Harris as ‘Vice-President Trump’ at a news conference.
“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 said in response to a question on whether he had confidence in Indian-origin leader Kamala Harris.
Watch the video shared by several X users:
BREAKING: Joe Biden just called Trump his Vice President when asked about Kamala Harris, “I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump if he wasn’t qualified to be Vice President pic.twitter.com/hinD1Mxa1R
— George (@BehizyTweets) July 11, 2024
These latest gaffes led to further calls for Biden to step aside, who is already the oldest person to ever serve as the US president, to step aside.
Biden did poorly against 78-year-old Donald Trump – who preceded Biden as President and is running for a second term — in a US presidential debate two weeks ago.
Even Biden’s Democratic Party members are concerned about his ability to win the November 5 election.
