In a new slip of the tongue, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, said on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “losing the war in Iraq”, when in fact he meant ‘Ukraine’. Speaking briefly to reporters before leaving the White House on a trip to Chicago, Biden was asked if Putin had been weakened by the brief uprising led by mercenary chief Wagner.
“It’s hard to say really. But clearly he’s losing the war in Iraq. He’s losing the war at home and has become a pariah around the world. And it’s not just NATO, it’s not just the European Union. It’s Japan, there are 40 nations,” was Biden’s verbatim response.
It was the second slip in 24 hours. On Tuesday night, Biden corrected himself at a campaign fundraiser, referring to China when referring to India, whose Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the White House a week ago. “You probably saw my new best friend, the prime minister of a small country that is now the largest in the world, China, I mean, excuse me, India. India is not looking for a permanent alliance, but it is looking to protect itself against some in the region,” he said .
These mistakes are not unusual for the 80-year-old president. Public opinion polls show that most Americans are concerned about Biden’s age. Some 73% of respondents to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted April 21-24 said they considered Biden too old to work in government. A majority, 63%, of Democrats agreed with that statement. Biden’s doctor declared him healthy and “fit for work” in February after a physical.
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