Following a series of mistakes made during a NATO conference, European leaders defended President Joe Biden, even though the European media had used these mistakes to paint Biden as unqualified to run against Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential election.
Biden misspelt the names of Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris and incorrectly called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “President Putin” at the summit.
Macron of France and Scholz of Germany both maintained a diplomatic stance in the face of these gaffes, saying that everybody is susceptible to unfortunate slips of the tongue. In their conversations, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer remarked on Biden’s mental agility, while Pedro Sanchez, Prime Minister of Spain, highlighted that Biden was present at every summit session.
Nevertheless, the press in Europe was not as tolerant. Biden was considered unfit for re-election, according to the Daily Telegraph and Times of London in Britain and Il Giornale in Italy. Russia took advantage of Biden’s gaffes by portraying the president as old and grey on state television. While acknowledging the mistakes, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov criticised Biden for making disrespectful remarks about Putin.
Some Democrats have asked Biden to withdraw his re-election campaign, but he is adamant about running anyway, insisting he can defeat Trump in November.
