Gaffa Biden: How Western leaders and Russian media reacted

Western leaders have rallied to “raise” a barrage of support for Joe Biden at the NATO summit, as calls grow for the US president to drop out of the presidential race this November.

However, his efforts to allay fears of his re-election bid were marred by two major gaffes at the NATO summit in Washington.

French President Emmanuel Macron, according to the BBC, said Biden was “responsible” and “clear on issues he knows well”, while UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “in good shape”.

One blunder after another

However, Biden’s first gaffe, in which he addressed Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky as President Putin, was heavily criticized by the Russian media, who called it ridiculous.

And later at a press conference, Mr. Biden’s first unscripted public appearance since the debate, he mistook Vice President Kamala Harris for Vice President Trump.

The US president is under pressure to resign after his disastrous performance two weeks ago in a debate with his Republican opponent in the upcoming election, Donald Trump.

Western leaders support Biden

Throughout the summit, other NATO leaders defended Biden and his ability to lead.

Macron, speaking after Thursday’s White House dinner, said he had a long conversation with Biden over the meal and appealed for understanding of his flaws.

“I saw him as always, I saw a president who is in charge, clear on the issues he knows well,” he said.

“We all do sardam sometimes, it has happened to me too, who knows it might happen to me tomorrow.”

“I would ask that you show the same leniency that people who care about someone would show.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was also blamed for the blunders.

“Language gets confusing sometimes and if you watch everyone carefully you will find that everyone has definitely made quite a few mistakes,” he said.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer repeatedly said during the summit that the US president has achieved a lot and can be proud of himself, adding that he found it particularly detailed.

On Friday, he said: “We spent two days in this session and came up with a very good result… I think he should be given credit for that.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was a privilege and a pleasure to work with Biden.

“The depth of experience [του Μπάιντεν]his thoughtfulness, his steadfastness on the bigger issues and challenges of our time, are to be commended and help the work we’re all doing together,” he said, according to the CBC.

Polish President Andrzej Duda, considered a close friend of former President Trump, said, according to AFP: “I spoke with President Biden and there is no doubt that everything is fine.”

Meanwhile, Finnish President Alexander Stubb combined his defense of Biden while expressing fears about the atmosphere in the US election.
“I am not at all worried about the ability of the current president of the United States to lead his country and to lead our fight for Ukraine and to lead NATO,” he said, according to AFP.

“The only thing I’m concerned about is that the political climate in the United States right now is very toxic, it’s very polarized, and that doesn’t leave enough room for a civilized and constructive debate.”

Orban “whistles indifferently”

However, not all NATO leaders were willing to defend Biden.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán reportedly made almost no comments to the media in Washington.

Instead, he left immediately after the summit ended for Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida residence, where the two men talked about the war in Ukraine.

“We discussed ways to make peace,” Mr Orban said on social media. “The good news of the day: Trump will solve the problem!”

Moscow’s reaction: Newspaper compares Biden to monkey

At a time when the leaders of the allied countries were unwilling to criticize the US president for his weaknesses, Moscow was also restrained.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the blunders were clearly just a few sardams, adding that it was “not our business, an internal US issue.”

State television, Rossiya showed Biden’s blunder with Zelensky as the first topic on its main newscast at 9pm, saying “America’s underlings pretended not to notice anything”.

NTV reported that Biden had never been so close to a fiasco and that “his latest blunder deserves an Oscar.”

Finally, popular daily newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets published an article entitled “Old Leaders”, comparing Joe Biden to the old communist leaders of the USSR.
He closes with the following question: “What is more dangerous, a monkey holding a grenade or a hand trembling next to the nuclear button?”