Joe Biden makes major mistakes at NATO summit: What are the world leaders saying about them?

While Donald Trump may be making claims that President Biden is quitting the election race, the 81-year-old has confirmed that it’s not happening anytime soon. After Biden’s disturbing performance during the first presidential debate, concerns about his old age and running for office increased. His campaign had been trying to rectify the debate gaffes for the president when a new blow hit them recently.

During the NATO Summit, President Biden made a series of verbal gaffes that attracted significant attention. However, despite these incidents and increasing calls from him to step aside for the next election, Biden remains committed to his leadership role.

Joe Biden's NATO summit mistakes that are going to stay with him

During the NATO summit, Biden demonstrated clarity and conviction on foreign policy. The NATO Summit is a high-level meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an intergovernmental military alliance between 31 North American and European countries. The summit is held periodically and invites heads of state, government leaders, foreign ministers, and defense ministers to discuss and coordinate policies and strategies related to security and defense.

According to The Guardian, after eight minutes of prepared remarks, Biden answered reporters' questions on many subjects including his cognitive health and determination to stay in the race.

Still, most of it was overshadowed by his awkward gaffes—mistakes that will probably be talked about for the rest of his career...

Joe Biden’s NATO summit gaffes

On Thursday, July 11 Biden mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as ‘President Putin.’ Standing on stage with 23 other world leaders, the Democratic president talked about the importance of securing Ukraine's future before welcoming Zelensky on stage. Addressing him on the stage, he said:

Now, I want to hand over to the President of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentlemen: President Putin.

However, the Democrat leader was quick to rectify his mistake as he corrected himself:

Going to beat President Putin, President Zelenskiy. I am so focused on beating Putin, we've got to worry about it. Anyway…

It didn’t help Biden much when one and a half hours later, he mixed up Kamala Harris with Donald Trump. Answering a question asked by Reuters about Kamala Harris’ abilities as the vice president, Biden said:

Look, I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if she was not qualified to be president. So start there.

What are the world leaders saying about his mistakes?

Newsweek reported that a video of NATO leaders reacting to Joe Biden mistakenly introducing Volodymyr Zelensky as ‘President Putin’ has gone viral on social media with over 880,000 views. Some leaders clapped as usual while others remained motionless until Biden returned to the mic and corrected his mistake.

Leaders worldwide offered sympathetic support to Biden as they confessed such slip-ups are normal. Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz said:

Slips of tongue happen, and if you always monitor everyone, you will find enough of them. But this doesn't change a single thing of what the U.S. president stated very clearly in his speech.

French President Emmanuel Macron chimed in:

We all slip up sometimes. It's happened to me and it could happen again tomorrow. I would ask for your indulgence.

Macron also praised Biden as the in-charge of the summit saying he was on top of issues discussed during the NATO meeting.

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Sources Used

The Guardian: Joe Biden: key takeaways from his Nato press conference

Reuters: Biden makes a series of verbal gaffes at NATO summit

Newsweek: NATO Leaders' Reaction to Joe Biden Calling Zelensky 'Putin' Goes Viral