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WASHINGTON, THE UNITED STATES | TASS | US President Joe Biden made two huge gaffes during his speech in Washington D.C. following the NATO summit: first, he referred to his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky as “President Putin” when introducing him. Then, Biden mixed up the names of US Vice President Kamala Harris and former White House chief Donald Trump.
TASS gathered the key details on the world reaction to the American leader’s mistakes.
Biden’s slip-ups
Joe Biden misspoke when introducing his Ukrainian counterpart, Vladimir Zelensky, during his speech on July 11: “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.”
A little later, the US leader corrected himself, explaining that he was focused on defeating Putin and was very worried about that.
The second blunder at the press conference following the NATO summit was a slip of the tongue about Kamala Harris, whom Biden confused with Donald Trump: “Look I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if she was not qualified to be president.”
US reaction
The major US broadcasters – ABC, CBS and NBC – featured excerpts of Biden’s gaffes in their evening newscasts, which are the most watched news programs in the country.
According to The New York Times, the president’s blunders were very inopportune, as Democrats are now analyzing his condition and ability to continue campaigning.
Bloomberg said that the name mix-up only heightened concerns about the mental capacity of the current US leader.
However, the White House and Biden’s campaign headquarters said that the American leader skillfully discussed all the issues and considered his performance a success, CNN sources reported.
A poll conducted by the American Rasmussen Reports research center shows that 52% of voters in the US believe that Joe Biden is not allowed to make decisions on his own, that there are people behind him who are pulling the strings.
Foreign politicians’ position
French President Emmanuel Macron stood up for Biden when asked about the US leader’s blunders: “Everybody makes mistakes, I make mistakes too.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the US leader did a good job, “there is nothing wrong with him” and “he held the summit well.”
French Patriots party leader Florian Philippot had a different view of things. In his opinion, Biden is “in a desperate position” after his slip-ups, and the current situation is “a direct road to Trump’s victory in November.”
Moscow’s reaction
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova joked that US President Joe Biden is a “pro-Russian candidate” after the latter confused Zelensky with Putin.
She also drew attention to a video of Democrats’ reaction after Biden’s words about “Vice President” Trump: “It seems to me that these profiles should be molded into ‘Cheers!’ medals.”
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SOURCE: TASS
