PUTIN HIS FOOT IN IT
Cringe autocue fails, bizarre cannibal claim & NINE mistakes in one speech… watch Joe Biden’s jaw-dropping 2024 gaffes
In one bizarre moment, the President labelled himself a 'black woman'
BUMBLING President Joe Biden has sparked more questions about whether he is “mentally fit” for office after a gaffe-filled speech at the Nato summit.
The 81-year-old, who is the oldest US leader in history, confused Ukraine and Russia’s leaders and his own Vice President for rival Donald Trump and forgot the term for his staff.
18
18
18
Verbal slip-ups are nothing new for Biden, who overcame a childhood stutter, but the toe-curling gaffes last night have renewed calls for him to stand down.
Among the most embarrassing of last night's antics, was him saying: “I want to hand over to the President of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentleman, President Putin."
Biden quickly correctly himself stating: “Going to beat President Putin, President Zelensky. I am so focused on beating Putin” but later suffered another blunder at a press conference.
When asked about Kamala Harris’s abilities as second-in-command, he said: “Look, I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be Vice President [if I] think she was not qualified to be president.”
READ MORE FROM FEATURES
He also struggled to find the words “chiefs of staff” and mistakenly referred to the nation’s top military leaders as “commander in chief”, the position held by himself.
While Prime Minister Keir Starmer brushed away claims Biden was senile, insisting he was “on good form” during their first bilateral talks in the White House yesterday, his faux pas are concerning many.
Just last month, during a disastrous TV debate with Trump, the President – whose poor performance was blamed on “a bad cold” – stumbled and lost track during sentences.
Biden’s latest errors are among an ever growing list of blunders from this year alone. From confusing world leaders to a bizarre cannibal claim and an ‘Anchorman’ moment, we reveal some of the worst.
Most read in The Sun
Nine gaffes in one speech
Even by Biden’s standards, making nine blunders in one speech is exceptionally bad.
Joe Biden calls Trump his VP in mix-up with Kamala Harris – seconds before hitting back at questions about Putin gaffe
His team at the White House were forced to correct the errors in an official transcript, crossing out words and replacing them.
One of the most cringeworthy occurred at the beginning of his speech, at the Detroit branch of the NAACP in May, where he received a lifetime achievement award.
While recounting a story about President Barack Obama, who served from January 2009 until January 2017, he claimed to have been sent to the Michigan city during the “pandemic”.
Biden confused the timeline by up to a decade and in a correction, it was changed to the "recession", which spanned December 2007 until June 2009.
18
18
18
Then, while slamming Trump for the Capitol riots, the POTUS said: “He calls the irrectionists who stormed Capitol Hill 'patriots'. He says if elected, he wants, quote, 'every' one of them pardoned.”
"Irrectionists", which isn’t a word, was corrected to "insurrectionists". The White House also corrected his use of the word “bloodshed” for “bloodbath”, in reference to Trump winning the election.
Other errors included Biden saying he was “humbled to receive this organisation” instead of "award", using the non-existent word "inspiresing" instead of "inspiring" and citing a figure of $8,000 rather than $800.
Another humiliating gaffe was his calling the NAACP, where he was giving the speech and was honoured with an award, the "NAAC".
Odd cannibal claim
18
In April, while honouring his own uncle, Ambrose Finnegan, at a World War II memorial in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Biden wrongly claimed he was eaten by cannibals.
The President said: "He got shot down in New Guinea and they never found the body because there used to be a lot of cannibals, for real, in that part of the New Guinea.”
Imagine what we could do next. Four more years. Pause.
President Joe Biden
Despite his claim, which he uttered twice, official military records state his Air Force plan crashed into the ocean and neither the craft nor his body were recovered.
Amusingly, Biden isn’t alone in making a cannibal-related gaffe, as Trump praised “the late, great Hannibal Lecter” calling the fictional character “a wonderful man” in May.
Deceased presidents
18
In February, Biden fell foul four times in four days – including wrongly claiming to have spoken to German chancellor Helmut Kohl in 2021 at the G7 summit.
The recounted conversation, in which he meant to say Angela Merkel, happened four years after Kohl died and 23 years after he stepped down.
He repeated the Kohl gaffe twice in the same day at fundraisers in New York and later made two errors at a Las Vegas campaign event.
Donald Trump's 2024 blunders
WHILE Joe Biden has faced a lot of flack, his Presidency rival Donal Trump has endured his fair share of gaffes this year too...
May
- Trump wrongly referenced "Jimmy Connors" instead of President Jimmy Carter during a campaign speech in New Jersey.
- Bizarrely commemorated 'the late, great Hannibal Lecter' - a fictional cannibal - while talking about undocumented immigrants.
- Wrongly said of his son Barron, who turned 18 two months earlier: "He's pretty young, I will say, he's 17."
- Appeared to fall asleep with his mouth open just minutes into the cross-examination of Michael Cohen during his hush money trial.
March
- Referred to either the head of the New York Stock Exchange or Trump Media and Technology Group as a man, when both are women. Trump said in a speech: "He said, 'I'm losing business because of New York.'"
- Bizarrely said "Joe Biden won against Barack Hussein Obama... every swing state, Biden beat Obama but in every other state, he got killed." Commentators were unclear what Trump meant. This was reportedly the eighth gaffe where Trump confused Obama in recent months.
- Claimed "the polls are rigged" during a speech in Georgia, before saying: "Disregard that last statement, I love the polls so much."
February
- In a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, he bizarrely referred to Putin saying Biden was "more experienced" than Trump as a "great compliment".
- Appeared to forget his wife Melania's name while introducing her to the stage. After applause from the crowd, he said: "Mercedes, that's pretty good!"
January
- Confused former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with his one remaining Republican rival for to represent the party. He said: "Nikki Haley was in charge of security” - instead of Pelosi, while trying to criticise her.
A similar timeline blunder happened, when Biden appeared to refer to President Emmanuel Macron but said: “[François] Mitterand from Germany – I mean, from France.”
Mitterand was in office until 1995 and died one year later, meaning the conversation would have happened 25 years after he passed away.
‘Anchorman’ moment
18
Biden baffled an audience at a trade union event in Washington DC, in April, when he read aloud a direction from his aid from an autocue.
“Imagine what we could do next. Four more years,” he told the crowd, before saying the word “pause” – clearly reading an instruction meant to leave time for the audience to chant “four more years”.
On social media, Biden was compared to Will Ferrell’s buffoonish newsreader from the 2004 film Anchorman, who was said to read “anything you put on the teleprompter” – often leading to errors.
'Freeze' concerns
18
Politicians are regularly compared to robots for delivering a lack of emotion and empathy in speeches but last month, Biden appeared to have short-circuited.
During the White House’s early celebration for Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the US, he froze for at least 30 seconds.
The odd clip showed Biden standing still and staring blankly, while others around him, including Harris, danced and clapped along to a gospel performance, before moving his head.
By the way, I'm proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first black woman... to serve with a black president
President Biden
Social media users mocked the President online, with one writing: "Lights are on but no one's home." Another added: "Oh no, they forgot to plug him in last night."
One doctor told the Daily Mail that freezing can be a sign of Parkinson's disease. Biden's team has rubbished claims regarding the President having an underlying health condition.
They explained the video as Biden "taking in an applauding crowd for a few seconds".
Hamas hiccup
That same month, Biden stumbled over his words while addressing the press at the White House and couldn’t remember the name Hamas.
“There’s been a response from the opposition…” he said, while giving an update on the hostage negotiations, and paused for several seconds.
A reporter from the crowd called out the terrorist group’s name to jog his memory, which led Biden to respond: “Yes, I’m sorry, from Hamas.”
Wrong date
18
In a humiliating mistake in front of Hollywood supporters Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Biden mixed up the date of the Capitol riots.
“We’ll certainly never forget the dark days of June 6... January 6, excuse me,” Biden said.
The terrifying 2021 attack saw Trump supporters storm Congress in protest to Biden being announced as President.
Later in court, it was revealed that some rioters intended "to capture and assassinate elected officials".
Mispronunciation
18
18
Biden got into hot water while talking about tighter border security after the death of medical student Laken Riley, 22, who was stabbed by a Venezuelan man who entered the US illegally.
He was told “Say her name” by politician Marjorie Taylor Greene during a speech in March, only to garble the pronunciation so that it sounded like "Lanken" or "Lincoln".
Embarrassingly, Biden was holding up a badge that had her full name on it at the time.
Labelled dictator
18
18
Biden’s not only cited dead world leaders – but also the wrong ones entirely, including while criticising Trump's close relationship with the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
During a speech in May, he said: “We’ll never forget his love letters for the South Korean President Kim Jong Un.”
Two months earlier, Biden wrongly labelled Egypt’s leader Albedel Fattah al-Sis as “the president of Mexico” while talking about humanitarian aid in Gaza.
On social media, users mocked the gaffe. One wrote: “They’ve both got pyramids” while another added: “Long live the Arab Republic of Mexico”.
Identified as 'black woman'
Questions surrounded Biden’s mental capacity after a series of stumbles and pauses as he struggled to keep track of conversation during June 27’s TV debate with Trump.
I want to hand over to the President of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentleman, President Putin.
President Biden
Insiders closed to the POTUS blamed the blunders on him fighting off a cold – but days later, he bizarrely referred to himself as a “black woman”.
In a radio interview, Biden said: “By the way, I'm proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first black woman... to serve with a black president."
It’s believed he meant to refer to Harris being the first black woman to serve as a vice president in the US.
Hostage mistake
18
18
Biden was forced to correct himself after wrongly claiming a maimed US citizen had been freed by Hamas and was in the audience, when in fact he was still a hostage.
In the March speech, as part of a White House celebration of Jewish heritage, he referred to the 23-year-old, who lost part of his arm in an explosion before being kidnapped on October 7.
He said: “My administration is working around the clock to free the remaining hostages, just as we have freed hostages already. And here with us today is Hersh Goldberg-Polin.”
Moment later, Biden said: “He is not here with us. But he is still being held by Hamas.”
One month later, Biden wrongly claimed to have told the Israeli Defence Force “don’t move on Haifa”, which is a major port city in Israel, instead of the Palestinian city Rafah.
Wrong career
18
While congratulating the Women’s NBA championsip victors, Biden praised star player Candace Parker – but got her career wrong.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
He said: “I want to acknowledge someone who will be considered one of the greatest all-time coaches.”
The one problem was that Las Vegas Aces player Parker, who announced her retirement ahead of the May speech, had never coached.