Leaders diminish Biden’s gaffe at NATO meeting
Sopuruchi Onwuka
Leaders of powerful American and European countries attending the weekend meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have rushed to the aid of embattled President Joe Biden of the United States who committed double blunders that suggest issues of declining memory.
The 81 year old of the United States has raised serious concerns about his cognitive acuity following series of age related incidents where he had mixed up names, dates and even steps.
The presidents of Ukraine, United Kingdom and France commented on the raging media onslaught on Biden, explaining that the gaffes were mere slips which could happen to anyone.
President Biden’s popularity sank very low after a poor outing on a presidential debate with rival Ronald Trump. He also complained of having longer sleeping hours, and he reportedly saw a doctor over concerns of Parkinson’s disease.
President Biden who had been under pressure from factions of his Democratic Party to step aside from the imminent elections over innumerable gaffes and ‘misfires’ came under a new wave of fire weekend after he mistakenly introduced the President of Ukraine as ‘President Putin.’
“And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination,” Biden said at a NATO conference on Thursday in Washington, D.C. “Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.” Biden seemed to realize his embarrassing verbal stumble mentioning Russian President Vladimir Putin, and came back to the lectern to correct himself.
“President Putin? He’s going to beat President Putin. President Zelenskyy. I’m so focused on beating Putin,” he said.
In a later event same day, Biden referred to his kamala Harris as ‘Vice President Trump!’
Although he quickly corrected himself after heads and eyebrows went up, President Biden still faced a wave of mockery online as commentators across social media responded with concerns about America’s president mixing up names of world leaders on a global stage.
Former Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker stated, “@JoeBiden was not fit to be President in 2020, nor is he now.” He added that the American president has been making way too many mistakes to not take a hit for the current gaffe.
Former New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin said in a post on X, “We’ve been watching Biden fall up stairs, down steps, on stages, off bikes, shaking hands with the air, and fumble on the world stage for years. Dems and the media told us not to believe our eyes.”
Russian state media seized on Biden’s performance to further criticize the NATO alliance, saying it turned the event into “a farce.”
Pundits and Democratic Party members have been calling on Biden to abandon his re-election due to concerns about his mental fitness for the presidency and cognitive ability.
The Trump campaign’s social media account, MAGA War Room joked, “It appears one of our employees logged into the wrong account.”
President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who remained in the US for several meetings after the NATO meeting, described his introduction by Biden as President Putin a mistake that is unrelated to any health problems.
When asked at Ireland’s Shannon Airport Saturday ofhis reaction to the error, Zelensky dismissed it as a mistake.
The British Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer , also dismissed concerns about Joe Biden’s health after the gaffe, saying people should look at the substance of what has been achieved at the meeting.
“Slips of the tongue happen,” he pointed out.
French president, Emmanuel Macron, said Mr Biden was in charge and clear on the issues he knows well.
“We all make slips of the tongue sometimes. It has happened to me before, it will probably happen to me tomorrow. I would ask you to show the same leniency that should be shown between caring people,” Macron stated.
German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, also explained that “slips of the tongue happen, and if you always monitor everyone, you will find enough of them.”
