Joe Biden’s controversial mistake regarding NATO: Putin calls Zelensky (video)

WASHINGTON (EFE).- The president of the United States, Joe Biden, mistakenly called the president of Ukraine “President Putin” on Thursday, Volodímir Zelenski, presenting it at a NATO summit event with leaders from several countries.

“Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden said, quickly correcting himself by saying the mistake was due to his being so focused on “beating Putin.”

The scene came as leaders from 24 countries presented a joint statement stressing that Ukraine’s security is “integral” to that of the “Euro-Atlantic region and beyond,” and as the media scrutinize the president’s remarks following his blunders in last month’s presidential debate.

Biden’s mistake with NATO members

The event was attended by leaders of all NATO member countries and allied leaders at the close of the two-day summit held in Washington.

The signatories of the declaration include the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, as well as the leadership of the European Council, the European Commission and the Ukrainian president himself.

Biden’s gaffe comes as pressure mounts within his party to withdraw his re-election bid following his disastrous performance in the presidential debate once morest Republican rival Donald Trump.

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Vice President Trump

Later in a press conference, the president expressed his confidence in Vice President Kamala Harris, stating that he would not have chosen her as his running mate in the 2020 elections if he were not convinced that she might serve as President “from the beginning.” However, he referred to her as “Trump.”

“I wouldn’t have chosen her if I didn’t think she was qualified to be president from the beginning. I’m not beating around the bush on that. She is qualified to be president,” the president said at a press conference on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington.

Interview with Biden, with controversial statements

Adding to the incident is the fact that a radio station in Wisconsin reported that it edited an interview with the US president to exclude two answers that the president gave, at the request of the campaign.

The Civic Media radio network published the full audio of the interview on Thursday, which aired last week and was one of Biden’s first interactions with the media following the controversial debate with former President Donald Trump (2017-2021).

In responses left out of the original audio, Biden said he “has more Black people in his administration than any other president, than all presidents combined, and in every Cabinet position.”

In another audio clip, the president talks regarding Trump, referring to when the former president called for life imprisonment for five young men falsely accused of murder in New York.

“I don’t know if they asked to be hanged or not,” the president is heard saying, “but he, but they said (…) convicted of murder.”

Biden interview censored

Civic Media CEO Sage Weil said in a statement explaining the decision to release the original footage that immediately following the interview was recorded, Biden campaign officials called the radio station and asked that both answers be removed before the interview aired.

“Given the gravity of the current political moment, the stakes of this election, and the importance of scrutiny of public officials in the highest offices, we believe it is important to share this information,” Weil wrote.

The host who conducted the interview, Earl Ingram, had previously revealed that Biden campaign workers had given him a list of five questions before his interview, of which he asked the president four.

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