Biden defends himself after gaffes at NATO meet

Jore Biden with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (right). Pic/AFP

US President Joe Biden has defended himself after calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russian President Vladimir Putin and asserted that it was the "most successful conference" he had attended in a long time. After referring to Zelenskyy as Putin, Biden confused Vice President Kamala Harris and former US President Donald Trump. When asked whether he had concerns about Harris' ability to beat Donald Trump if he decided not to run again, Biden responded, "Look, I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be Vice President. But, I think she's not qualified to President."

While addressing a press conference after the NATO Summit in Washington, DC, Biden asked the journalists whether they have seen a more successful conference.

Responding to a question over his remarks confusing Zelenskyy with Putin, Biden said, "Did you see any damage to our stand in my leading this conference? Have you seen a more successful conference? What do you think? And the Putin piece, I was talking about Putin and I said, "and now at the very end, I said here, I mean Putin. I said, no, I'm sorry, Zelenskyy". Then I added five other names."

Biden's statement came after he introduced Ukrainian President as President Putin and later corrected himself.

In his remarks at the event on the Ukraine Compact, Biden said, "Now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin." He quickly corrected himself and said, "He's going to beat President Putin - President Zelenskyy. I'm so focused on beating Putin, we got to worry about it."

Donald Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social to mock Biden for his verbal slips during the press conference.

In the post on Truth Social, Trump stated, "Crooked Joe begins his ‘Big Boy' Press Conference with, ‘I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, though I think she was not qualified to be president. Great job, Joe."

US prez ‘ready to undergo neurological exam'

Amid the mounting pressure from fellow Democrats to end his re-election campaign, US President Joe Biden has indicated willingness to undergo a neurological exam to address concerns about his mental fitness for office, but only if his doctors recommend it, CNN reported. "I am not opposed, if my doctors tell me I should have another neurological exam, I'll do it," he said at a rare solo news conference.

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