In yet another gaffe, United States President Joe Biden on Wednesday, July 12, mistakenly took the first name of the rival he is trying to defeat while speaking at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Instead of referring to his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Biden misspelt him as ‘Vladimir’, the Russian President Putin.
“Vladimir and I...I shouldn't be so familiar," said Biden while addressing a press conference in the Lithuanian capital. He, however, quickly corrected his mistake and again said, "Mr Zelenskyy and I talked about the kinds of guarantees we could make in the meantime when I was in Ukraine and when we met in other places."
Watch video:
Biden calls Zelensky ‘Vladimir’ . 🙈pic.twitter.com/2PpQ7kSdSI
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) July 12, 2023
The video of Biden's speech is now circulating on social media, attracting mixed reactions from people. Some expressed concern over Biden's age and health, while some said that Biden should retire from politics, and others defended him, saying, “Volodymyr and Vladimir” sound similar.
The 80-year-old democratic leader has recently made several mix-ups and embarrassing gaffes during his public addresses. His verbal and physical slips have led to a huge outcry among Republicans, who have sought to claim that these expressions show that Biden lacks mental competence.
Let us take a look at some of his most notable gaffes.
'Putin is losing Iraq war'
In one of the most infamous gaffes, Biden mispronounced Ukraine as Iraq while speaking to reporters at the White House last month. “Putin is losing the war in Iraq,” he said.
'God save the Queen'
Earlier, he was heavily trolled for saying “God save the Queen” while concluding his speech on gun control reform at National Safer Communities Summit in Connecticut, United States. The misstatement raised the eyebrows of the audience because it was the national anthem of the United Kingdom dedicated to Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September 2022.
'Global inflation is the cause of war in Iraq'
In November last year, while delivering a speech at the COP26 UN Climate Summit, Biden once again mistakenly ended up saying that global inflation is due to the war in Iraq. He also said that his son died there. "Inflation is a worldwide problem right now because of the war in Iraq and the impact on oil, and what Russia’s doing—excuse me, the war in Ukraine," he said, justifying, "I think of Iraq because that’s where my son died."
ALSO READ | George Bush calls Ukraine 'Iraq' in public gaffe — here's a look at other US Presidents and their goof-ups
'Mr President?'
Biden mistakenly called UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as "Mr President" when Sunak travelled to the US, for a two-day visit in June this year. As both leaders looked at the camera, Biden said, "Well, Mr President..." and quickly corrected himself, adding, "I demoted you, Mr Prime Minister."
Biden incorrectly says he has four granddaughters
Earlier, Biden incorrectly said that he has four granddaughters when he has five while speaking at a White House event.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
First Published: Jul 13, 2023 11:53 AM IST
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