WASHINGTON — President Biden said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was losing the “war in Iraq” when he meant to say Ukraine — the second time in about 12 hours he mixed up the two war-torn nations.
Biden, 80, is the oldest-ever US president and is running for re-election next year — with his mental acuity already a major campaign issue.
“[Putin’s] clearly losing the war in Iraq. He’s losing the war at home and he has become a bit of a pariah around the world,” Biden told reporters on the White House lawn as he departed for a day trip to Chicago.
On Tuesday night, the president made the exact same error while speaking at a fundraiser in Chevy Chase, Md.
“Think about this,” Biden said. “If anybody told you — and my staff wasn’t so sure, either — that we’d be able to bring all of Europe together in the onslaught on Iraq and get NATO to be completely united, I think they would have told you it’s not likely.”
President Biden said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was losing the “war in Iraq” when he meant to say Ukraine.
Ken Cedeno – Pool via CNP / MEGA
Vladimir Putin began his war against Ukraine in February 2022.
via REUTERS
The error was noted in an official White House transcript of Biden’s remarks, with “Iraq” crossed out and “Ukraine” added in parentheses.
In the same remarks, Biden shouted out, “My new best friend, the prime minister of a little country that’s now the largest in the world, China — I mean, excuse me, India,” a botched reference to Narendra Modi.
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Biden abruptly ended a press conference in November after saying Russian troops were pulling out of “Fallujah,” a city in Iraq, while intending to identify the city of Kherson in southeastern Ukraine.
Biden would be 86 years old if he completes a full second term in office.
The current Republican presidential front-runner is former President Donald Trump, who would be 78 if he wins a second non-consecutive term and 82 upon leaving office.
The current president’s defenders note that he’s long been prone to misspeaking.
Concern about Biden’s mental fitness for office surged in September when he asked, “Where’s Jackie?” and searched the crowd for the late Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) at an event — despite publicly mourning her car-accident death and even calling her family to offer his condolences the month before.
Biden has also racked up a long list of false or embellished statements while in office.
On Tuesday night, Biden made the exact same error while speaking at a campaign fundraiser in Chevy Chase, Md.
AFP via Getty Images
In December, Biden claimed that his uncle Frank Biden won the Purple Heart for his actions during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II — but there’s no evidence of the award and key details make the story factually impossible.
In October, Biden said firefighters nearly died extinguishing a blaze in his kitchen in 2004, prompting the local fire department to describe the event as relatively “insignificant” for trained professionals.
Biden said at the Naval Academy’s graduation ceremony last May that he was appointed to the military school in 1965 by the late Sen. J. Caleb Boggs (R-Del.).
A search of Boggs’ archives failed to turn up evidence of the appointment.
In January 2022, Biden told students at historically black colleges in Atlanta that he was arrested during civil rights protests — for which there also is no evidence.
Original Story: Biden says Putin losing ‘war in Iraq’ in latest gaffe