President Biden mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Russian President Vladimir Putin during a NATO summit in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
“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, before starting to leave the podium.
Biden then seemed to realize his mistake and corrected himself. “He’s going to beat President Putin. President Zelenskyy. I’m so focused on beating Putin. We got to worry about it. Anyway, Mr. President.”
Zelenskyy appeared on stage, shook Biden’s hand, and said, “I’m better.”
“You are a hell of a lot better,” Biden said.
The flub comes ahead of Biden’s high-stakes press conference. This will be heavily scrutinized as the president faces a growing number of calls from within his own party to drop out of the presidential race.
These calls follow his disastrous debate performance last month. Concerns over his mental fitness and age have been re-ignited.