Moments before a high-stakes press conference to allay fears about his capacity as president, Joe Biden made another serious gaffe, introducing Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky as “president Putin”.
The 81-year old was delivering remarks at the Nato Summit, taking place this week in Washington DC. Biden was attending an event to celebrate the Ukraine Compact, a bilateral agreement unifying countries in their support of the wartorn nation.
“And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine who has as much courage as he does determination. Ladies and gentlemen, president Putin,” Biden said.
The president caught his mistake quickly, telling crowds that “we’re going to beat president Putin,” but not before people in the room called out the correction. “I’m so focused on beating Putin,” he said.
Zelensky appeared to shrug off the slip, joking “I’m better” as he took to the stage. “You’re a hell of a lot better,” Biden told him.
The incident took place less than an hour before Biden holds his first official press conference in eight months.
The high-stakes appearance is being seen by many as a last-ditch attempt by the president to claw back support from skeptical members of the Democratic party and play down concerns about his age and capability, following his disastrous presidential debate against Donald Trump last month.
So far 14 members of Congress and one sitting senator have publicly called for him to step aside in favor of a younger candidate in the 2024 election.
Politico reports that another half-a-dozen lawmakers could go public if Biden underperforms this evening, while Axios says he could face a “deluge” of calls urging him to drop out regardless of his performance. Many Americans appear to agree.
The president routinely responds to a handful of shouted questions while on the move, but Biden has not handled a formal press conference since November 2023 when he spoke with reporters after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
At that appearance, the president called on reporters from four news organizations, one of whom asked two questions.
While White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tried to end the press conference after questions from a fourth reporter, the president continued to answer nine more questions.