President Joe Biden on Thursday had to correct himself after he incorrectly introduced Ukrainian President Zelenskyy as “President Putin.”
"Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden said during an event with NATO allies and partners on their Ukraine security agreement at the NATO Summit.
Biden, then immediately moved back to the microphone to correct himself: “President Putin? He's gonna beat President Putin. President Zelenskyy! I'm so focused on beating Putin, we've got to worry about it. Anyway..."
Zelenskyy: "I'm better."
Biden: “You are a hell of a lot better.”
The gaffe comes as Biden's public remarks have been under intense scrutiny after his widely-panned performance during the CNN presidential debate late last month, when he at times spoke haltingly and trailed off. It also came less than two hours before he will attempt to alleviate Democrats’ concerns about his mental acuity at a solo news conference this evening meant to test his ability to respond on the fly to reporters’ questions.