Joe Biden Defends Gaffe at NATO Summit

US President Joe Biden has defended himself after mistakenly referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Russian President Vladimir Putin during a NATO Summit press conference in Washington, DC. Biden asserted that the summit was the “most successful conference” he had attended in a long time.

Responding to a question about his mix-up, Biden said, “Did you see any damage to our stand in my leading this conference? Have you seen a more successful conference? What do you think? And the Putin piece, I was talking about Putin and I said, ‘and now at the very end, I said here, I mean Putin. I said, no, I’m sorry, Zelenskyy.’ Then I added five other names.”

Biden emphasized the success of the conference, noting that other leaders and heads of state thanked him for his efforts in bringing them together. “It was the most successful conference I’ve attended in a long time and find me a world leader who didn’t think it was,” he added.

The incident occurred during his remarks at the Ukraine Compact event when Biden said, “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.” He quickly corrected himself, saying, “He’s going to beat President Putin — President Zelenskyy. I’m so focused on beating Putin, we got to worry about it.”

Later, Biden mistakenly referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump” when discussing her ability to beat Donald Trump if he decided not to run again. “Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be Vice President. But, I think she’s not qualified to President,” Biden said.

Donald Trump responded to Biden’s verbal slips on his social media platform, Truth Social, stating, “Crooked Joe begins his ‘Big Boy’ Press Conference with, ‘I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, though I think she was not qualified to be president. Great job, Joe.”

In response, Biden posted on X, stating, “By the way: Yes, I know the difference. One’s a prosecutor, and the other’s a felon.”

Biden’s verbal slips come amid intense scrutiny over his advanced age. He has vowed to continue his re-election bid, despite private calls from Democrats to step down. In a letter to congressional Democrats, Biden expressed his firm commitment to staying in the race and defeating Donald Trump.

“We have 42 days to the Democratic convention and 119 days to the general election,” Biden said in the letter. He called for unity within the party, emphasizing the need for a collective effort to defeat Trump in the upcoming election. “Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us. It’s time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump,” he added.