When President Biden referred to Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump” during his “big boy” press conference at the NATO summit on Thursday, Biden administration officials appeared to awkwardly try to maintain neutral expressions.
Witnessing Biden’s gaffe-riddled debacle at the Washington Convention Center were Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
“If I thought President Trump was unfit to be president, I would not have chosen her as his vice president,” the 81-year-old told reporters.
Blinken praised his boss. Restoring global confidence He closed his eyes and bowed slightly as he delivered a speech in the US just days after his disastrous debate defeat with President Donald Trump, who caused a major upset on the world stage.
Sullivan appeared to be doing his best to contain his emotions, holding his hand over his mouth, clenching his fist and placing it under his chin, as if he couldn’t believe what he was saying.
Austin sat emotionless throughout Biden’s gaffe, nodding slightly at one point and being the only Biden administration official not to show any discomfort with the president’s comments.
There has been growing pressure from Democrats in Congress to not seek reelection, as they believe running against the 81-year-old president would only ensure victory for former President Donald Trump, who is presumed to be the Republican nominee.
In response to this humiliating inaccuracy, the top Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, Reps. Jim Himes, Eric Sorensen and Scott Peters, became the latest Democrats to publicly plead for Biden to retire at the end of his term.
Ahead of Biden’s press conference, 14 House Democrats called on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race.
Trump was quick to mock his potential opponent for the mistake in a statement on social media.
“Vicky Joe started his ‘Big Boy’ press conference with, ‘I would not have picked VP Trump as my VP, but I don’t think she’s qualified to be President.’ Well done, Joe!” the 78-year-old former president wrote.
What you need to know about the impact of President Biden’s debate performance:
A Pew Research Center poll released Thursday found Trump leading Biden by four points, with fewer than a quarter of Americans saying they think the incumbent president is “mentally astute.”
This wasn’t the only disruption during President Biden’s “big boy” press conference, but press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeatedly referred to the incident.
Onstage Thursday night, Biden mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as his rival, Russian President Volodymyr Putin, prompting gasps of disbelief from some in the audience.
“And now I want to turn it over to a president of Ukraine who has the determination and the courage to do just that,” a frail-looking Biden declared. “Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. President, [Vladimir] “Putin”
World leaders on stage seemed unsure whether to applaud to welcome Zelensky or wait for Biden to change his tune.
“Zelensky!” one audience member shouted to correct the elderly president.
Zelensky played down the gaffe as he took to the podium and praised NATO.
Biden quickly apologized for the embarrassing gaffe, saying it happened because he was “too focused on defeating” the Kremlin dictator.
President Biden’s evening of simple gaffes coincided with leaders of 19 countries gathering to announce the signing of the Ukraine Compact, a new security pact between Kyiv and the United States, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The president also struggled to pronounce the word “neurologist” but insisted he would not undergo new cognitive testing unless a doctor asked him to, sparking speculation that the 81-year-old president may have Parkinson’s disease or a related condition.
Jean-Pierre said the visit took place in January, but Biden insisted he last met with neurologist Dr. Kevin Canard in February.
