US President Joe Biden introduces Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Vladimir Putin at a NATO ceremony. Chancellor Scholz reacts to the faux pas.
US President Joe Biden mixed up names right from the first question at his highly anticipated press conference at the end of the NATO summit. A journalist asked Biden what he thought about Vice President Kamala Harris’ chances of defeating Republican challenger Donald Trump in the presidential election if she ran for the Democrats.
Biden replied: “Look, I wouldn’t have voted for Vice President Trump as Vice President if I didn’t think she was qualified to be President.”
A few hours earlier, Biden had mistakenly introduced his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky as Russian President Vladimir Putin at a NATO ceremony. “Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden said of Zelensky on Thursday in Washington. The 81-year-old, whose mental and physical suitability for the election campaign and a second term is currently being intensively discussed, quickly corrected himself.
He now wants to hand the floor over to the Ukrainian president, “who has as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden said before walking away from the podium. The 81-year-old quickly realized his mistake, returned and said: “He’s going to beat President Putin. President Zelensky. I’m so focused on beating President Putin.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz subsequently commented on the incident: “Slips of the tongue happen, and if you watch them all, enough happens,” he said at a press conference at the end of the NATO summit. He said he had a lot of respect for President Biden.
Scholz has once again defended US President Joe Biden against the accusation that he is no longer able to hold office. With the NATO meeting and its preparation, the American president has shown that he is “very strategically able to initiate the right decisions,” Scholz said on Thursday evening in Washington.
As host of the NATO summit, Biden played a major role. He was not only responsible for the location, but also for the negotiations. “The decisions alone speak for a clear strategic orientation that is important for Ukraine,” Scholz stressed.
Biden is under constant scrutiny at the NATO meeting after he sowed doubts about his mental and physical fitness during a TV debate against Trump at the end of June. Biden got through the first two days as host with almost no problems.
But Biden doesn’t usually make the biggest mistakes when he reads speeches from the teleprompter. It will be difficult for the Democrat, who wants to return to the White House after the US election in November, if he speaks freely.
After Biden’s disastrously erratic and confused appearance in the televised debate with his Republican presidential rival Donald Trump two weeks ago, his statements are being watched particularly closely. Since the debate, the 81-year-old, oldest president in US history, has been confronted with an ever-growing debate about his physical and mental suitability for the presidency – even within his own party.
But the real test for the US President is still to come: on Friday night he plans to hold a press conference at the end of the NATO summit.