Washington: As US President Joe Biden's series of verbal slip-ups at the NATO Summit invited a fresh wave of concerns and mockery over his age, the Kremlin on Friday called his "disrespectful" remarks on Russian President Vladimir Putin 'unacceptable' and said the whole world paid attention to his gaffes. Biden is under immense pressure over his age and mental fitness after a stumbling debate performance and subsequent verbal slip-ups.
Biden on Thursday misspoke and introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as "President Putin", before quickly correcting himself. In another slip, Biden mixed up the names of Kamala Harris, his vice-president, and his election opponent Donald Trump, while confusing his chief of staff with the 'commander-in-chief', a title he himself holds as US president.
"We noticed that the whole world paid attention to what happened, and there can be no comment here (from us), but it is clear that these were slips of the tongue," said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. "It is understandable that they probably received such a wide resonance given the context of the internal political discussions that we are now witnessing in the US, but it's not our topic, it's an internal US topic."
Peskov further said Kremlin had taken note of 'disrespectful' comments Biden had made about the Russian President, referring to when the US President referred to Putin at the NATO summit as "a murderous madman". "We continue to consider it absolutely unacceptable and impermissible behaviour for a head of state to make such disrespectful remarks about other heads of state. I am referring to his remarks about President Putin," Peskov added.
Biden heavily trolled in Russia
Meanwhile, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova joked that Biden has shown he is "a pro-Russian candidate being controlled by the Kremlin". Russian state TV commentators have long depicted Biden, 81, as a senile old man who risks stumbling into World War III.
Olga Skabeyeva, a pro-Kremlin TV commentator, posted a clip of Biden's Putin name fumble on her social media feed with a crying with laughter emoji. "The show from Joe goes on!," she wrote separately beneath footage of the Trump/Harris name mix-up. Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, said anyone could make a mistake, but that Biden seemed to make one every day because he was "retarded".
Zakharova later accused US officials and media of covering up Biden's real condition for years and that his performances and the public reaction of his top advisors meant that it was no longer possible to keep up the pretence. Biden's gaffes come at a moment when he is facing calls from some fellow Democrats to abandon his re-election bid.
Biden, 81, endured days of withering questions about his fitness for office as some of his fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill after his dismal debate performance against former President Donald Trump on June 27. His hoarse-sounding, shaky performance at the debate raised concerns over his age and mental acuity to serve another term in the White House. At least 17 congressional Democrats so far have called for Biden to drop out and allow the party to pick another standard-bearer.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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