Biden also mistakenly referred to Zelenskyy as ‘President Putin’ during an earlier NATO event.
By Thaleigha Rampersad and Collin Anderson, The Washington Free Beacon
President Joe Biden made a second name gaffe in as many hours, referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump” not long after he introduced Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin.”
“I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president did I think she was not qualified to be president, so let’s start there,” Biden said during a Thursday evening press conference after a reporter asked him if Harris could win in November should she become the nominee.
Biden did not catch his mistake.
Roughly two hours before the gaffe, Biden mistakenly referred to Zelensky as “President Putin” during a NATO event touting the Ukraine Compact. That time, he corrected his mistake.
“Ukraine will prevail in this war, and we’ll stand with them every step of the way,” Biden said. “And now I wanna hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.”
“President Putin?” Biden continued. “We’re gonna beat President Putin! President Zelensky. I’m so focused on beating Putin, we gotta worry about it. Anyway.”
“I’m better,” Zelensky joked. “You are a hell of a lot better,” Biden responded.
Biden has stumbled throughout the press conference, which is seen as crucial to his perilous presidential campaign. At one point, Biden referred to the “mother home of Russia.”