US President Joe Biden mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as Russian President Vladimir Putin at the NATO summit in Washington.
He later corrected himself, before Zelensky took the microphone.
“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,” Biden said, referring to Zelenskiy.
🇺🇸🇺🇦 Watch Zelensky’s reaction as Biden calls him Putin 😭 pic.twitter.com/TfVoAoryDX
— Censored Men (@CensoredMen) July 11, 2024
While correcting himself about two seconds later, Biden added: “President Putin, you’re going to beat President Putin, President Zelenskiy. I am so focused on beating Putin.”
Notably, Biden, 81, has rejected calls for him to drop out of the race, saying this week he is “firmly committed” to running for reelection. More than 15 House Democrats, most recently including Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, and Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., have asked the president to withdraw, with some lawmakers pitching Vice President Kamala Harris as a potential replacement for Biden.
President Joe Biden also mixed up the names of Vice President Kamala Harris and his Republican rival Donald Trump on Thursday but insisted he was pushing ahead with his re-election bid even as more of his fellow Democrats urged him to end his campaign.
At the summit in Washington, NATO members have extended support to Ukraine to combat the Russian invasion that began in February 2022. The United States has been Ukraine’s most important partner in military assistance during the war.
