New York: In yet another addition to a never-ending tale of embarrassing gaffes, US President Joe Biden made the headlines for yet another wrong reason, as he apparently forgot he was in New York and welcomed world leaders "to Washington" on Wednesday. The gaffe came as Biden continues to face scrutiny over his mental and physical fitness for office even after dropping out of the US presidential race.
In an address in New York's Barclay Hotel, the 81-year-old President welcomed world leaders by saying, "Thank you, thank you, thank you. Welcome to Washington." Seemingly unaware of his mistake, Biden continued with his remarks and reaffirmed US support towards Ukraine in the war against Russia's invasion.
“Fellow leaders, friends, for 944 days [Russian President Vladimir} Putin has waged his vicious onslaught against Ukraine,” he said at the gathering of Western leaders reaffirming their support for Kyiv. The event at Barclay Hotel coincided with the annual meeting of the United National General Assembly in New York, which Biden addressed on Tuesday.
During the Wednesday gathering, Biden spoke ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He made another blunder, referring to Zelenskyy simply as “Mr President,” without using his surname. Verbal gaffes are not unusual in the long political career of Biden, who overcame a childhood stutter, but his mental acuity came under scrutiny during his re-election bid at the White House.
Biden's embarrassing gaffe ft. Zelenskyy
In one of his most embarrassing mistakes in public, Biden mistakenly addressed the Ukrainian President as "President Putin" during the NATO Summit in July, prompting gasps and shock from the crowd. "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 during his speech.
Realising his mistake, Biden attempted to correct himself by saying, "President Putin? You're going to beat President Putin. President Zelenskyy. I'm so focused on beating Putin we got to worry about it, anyway. Mr President." Later, during a news conference, Biden mixed up the name of his Vice President Kamala Harris with his rival Trump.
At this time, Biden was still in the running for the White House, but the NATO Summit was closely watched following his poor debate performance against Donald Trump in a presidential debate on July 27. Concerns from fellow Democrats ultimately forced Biden to end his re-election bid and hand over the baton to Vice President Kamala Harris.
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