Joe Biden mistakenly calls Ukraine leader ‘President Putin’ ahead of ‘big boy’ press speech
Joe Biden mistakenly referred to the Ukrainian leader as “President Putin” before correcting his error at the NATO summit, as the US President faces increasing pressure over his fitness for office.
Biden was introducing Volodymr Zelenskyy to the podium in Washington when he made the gaffe, which drew gasps from the audience in the media room.
“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 said, referring to Zelenskyy, before realising his error and correcting himself.
“Going to beat President Putin, President Zelenskiy. I am so focused on beating Putin,” Biden added.
It’s the latest gaffe to befall Biden who is facing calls by members of his own party to drop out of the race ahead of this year’s presidential election.
It comes as Biden is due to hold a high-stakes news conference on Friday morning (AEST) in a bid to ease fears about his age and mental acuity.
At his first formal solo news conference since November 2023, Biden will have to speak extemporaneously on a wide range of topics, including likely questions on whether his doctors have found evidence of mental decline.
Several White House officials, including press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, have jokingly referred to it as his “boy boy press conference”, referencing a phrase used in a Bloomberg media report.
“And you’ll certainly hear from the president on Thursday when he gives his press conference — his “big boy” press conference,” she said.
Biden’s re-election campaign has been on the ropes for two weeks, since the 81-year-old incumbent’s stumbling debate performance against former US president Donald Trump, his 78-year-old Republican rival, raised fresh questions about his age and mental acuity – concerns that voters had long raised in public opinion polls.
Peter Welch on Wednesday evening become the first Democratic US senator to call on Biden to step aside, joining of the House of Representatives who have appealed to the president to withdraw from the race.
Welch, a first-term senator from Vermont, said Biden should end his candidacy “for the good of the country”.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week found Biden and Trump tied at 40 per cent each. Other opinion polls have found Trump widening his lead over Biden.