Biden twice refers to Gaza as ‘Ukraine’ when announcing US aid as concerns over president’s mental acuity mount
WASHINGTON — President Biden mistakenly announced Friday that he was authorizing US airdrops of aid into “Ukraine” when he was supposed to say the Gaza Strip — another stumble propelling election-year scrutiny of his mental acuity.
The 81-year-old commander-in-chief mixed up the global hot spots twice while hosting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office.
“In the coming days, we are going to join with our friends in Jordan and others in providing airdrops of additional food and supplies into Ukraine and seek to continue to open up other avenues into Ukraine, including the possibility of a marine corridor to deliver large amounts of humanitarian assistance,” Biden said.
The president later made clear he was referring to Gaza by adding, without noting his error, “the truth is, aid flowing to Gaza is nowhere nearly enough now.”
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed about 30 minutes later to reporters that Biden “was referring to Gaza” when he said “Ukraine.”
Twice in February, Biden told donors at fundraisers that Helmut Kohl, who left office as German chancellor in 1998 and died in 2017, spoke with him in 2021 about that year’s Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Biden also said that former French President Francois Mitterrand, who left office in 1995 and died in 1996, joined that 2021 conversation.
Biden compounded his errors on Feb. 8 by referring to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as the “president of Mexico” during a fiery press conference where he denied special counsel Robert Hur’s finding that no jury would convict him of mishandling classified documents on the grounds of perceived senility.
Hur wrote in his report that his team “uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency” but that “Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
Biden had his annual physical Wednesday and the White House said he was not given a cognitive exam because his doctors concluded one was not necessary.
Kirby said at the White House briefing that the US would seek to ensure that the aid wasn’t acquired by Hamas terrorists, but that “there are few military operations that are more complicated than humanitarian assistance aid drops.”
Biden announced the new aid program following a Thursday tragedy in northern Gaza where dozens of Palestinians were reportedly killed while rushing toward an aid delivery.
The president also said that the US remains active in negotiations for a six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which still controls the city of Rafah along the Egyptian border, in exchange for the release of hostages seized in the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people.
About six US citizens are believed to remain hostage in Gaza, according to the White House.