President Biden on Thursday accidentally used Russian President Vladimir Putin’s name when introducing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the NATO Summit, a flub that comes at a vulnerable moment in his campaign. The mistake is likely to turn up the volume on calls for him to drop out of the race after his disastrous debate performance raised questions about his mental acuity.
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“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. There were audible gasps from people in the room, which included diplomats and world leaders from across the globe. A few called out, “Zelensky!” to correct Biden. Biden then moved back to the microphone and corrected himself, saying, “We’re gonna beat President Putin. President Zelensky. I was so focused on beating Putin.”
The error came at the end of a forceful speech by Biden in front of world leaders in Washington that was intended to describe the power of the expanding NATO alliance under his leadership, tout major new military support to Ukraine from the U.S. and NATO allies, and introduce Zelensky, who spoke next.
The timing could not have been worse. The gaffe came less than an hour before Biden was scheduled to hold a press conference with reporters at the NATO Summit that is likely to be dominated by questions about whether he will drop his re-election bid. Democrats concerned about Biden’s ability to beat Donald Trump in November have been watching Biden’s performance closely since last month’s debate.