Biden makes a series of verbal gaffes at Nato summit
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Verbal gaffes are not unusual in the long political career of Mr Biden, who overcame a childhood stutter.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden had a series of verbal slip-ups
Verbal gaffes are not unusual in the long political career of Mr Biden, who overcame a childhood stutter, but there is closer attention on him amid the fallout from his dismal debate performance against Republican candidate Donald Trump
Trump, who is 78, and also has faced concerns about his age, frequently made false claims during the debate and often rambles during campaign speeches.
Below is a summary of Mr Biden’s mistakes on July 11.
Biden mistakenly calls Zelensky ‘Putin’
Mr Biden mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin”.
“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,” Mr Biden said at the Nato summit, drawing gasps from those in the room.
“Going to beat President Putin, President Zelensky. I am so focused on beating Putin,” Mr Biden said while correcting himself.
Biden mistakenly refers to Harris as Trump
During a news conference on the evening of July 11, Mr Biden mixed up the name of Vice-President Kamala Harris, and his rival, Trump.
“Look, I wouldn’t have picked vice-president Trump to be vice-president if she was not qualified to be president. So start there,” Mr Biden said as he responded to a question from Reuters about his confidence in Ms Harris.
Biden fumbles ‘chiefs of staff’
Mr Biden also struggled at the news conference to find the words “chiefs of staff”, mistakenly referring to the US group of top uniformed military leaders as “commander in chief”, the title he holds as president.
“And so our military is working on following the advice of my commander in chief my, my, my, the chiefs of staff, of the military as well as the secretary of defence and our intelligence people.” REUTERS
