President Joe Biden made his gaffe confusing Ukraine for Iraq twice in the span of 24 hours, despite having a cheat sheet when addressing the Wagner uprising against Vladimir Putin.
Biden was asked on the South Lawn Wednesday how damaged Putin was in the aftermath of this weekend’s aborted uprising by the Russian mercenary group.
The president said that Putin had ‘absolutely’ been weakened, but added, ‘it’s hard to tell really,’ when asked to what extent.
‘He’s clearly losing the war in Iraq. He’s losing the war at home and has become a bit of a pariah around the world,’ Biden said, clearly meaning to say Ukraine.
The night before, however, the president was speaking at a fundraiser in Chevy Chase, Maryland, when he made the same mistake, according to White House transcripts.
President Joe Biden answered questions on the South Lawn Wednesday ahead of his trip to Chicago. During the Q&A he referred to the Ukraine conflict as the ‘war in Iraq’
President Joe Biden walked to Marine One carrying a cheat sheet that included talking points about the ‘Vagner-Russia’ conflict
The official White House transcript from the president’s Q&A with reporters Wednesday morning shows how he called the Ukraine conflict the ‘war in Iraq’
The night before, the president was speaking at a fundraiser in Chevy Chase, Maryland, when he made the same mistake, according to White House transcripts
‘Think about this: 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. The one thing Putin counted on was being able to split NATO.’
The White House’s copy of the remarks had Iraq crossed out and put ‘Ukraine’ in brackets to correct Biden.
Biden was not the only one to produce a gaffe regarding the situation, however, as Fox News host Jesse Watters made a similar error critiquing Biden’s mistake on ‘The Five’ Wednesday.
Watters – who was named Fox’s replacement for Tucker Carlson beginning next month – was attempting to switch from slamming Biden’s economic agenda to his foreign policy gaffe.
‘And then he comes out and he confuses Iraq with Afghanistan,’ Watters said, uncorrected, confusing Afghanistan with Ukraine.
Biden was not the only one to produce a gaffe regarding the situation, however, as Fox News host Jesse Watters made a similar error critiquing Biden’s mistake on ‘The Five’ Wednesday
The president, 80, made his remarks Wednesday while heading to Chicago to deliver an address on what his White House is calling ‘Bidenomics,’ when he made the gaffe.
Photographers on the South Lawn captured a notecard the president walked out with.
The card read ‘Daily News Summary’ with the date.
It started with ‘Vagner-Russia’ with talking points listed below.
‘This was an internal Russian matter,’ the talking points read. ‘Too soon to know.’
During a fundraiser Tuesday night in the tony D.C. suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland, Biden also said ‘Iraq’ when he was speaking about the war in Ukraine.
‘Think about this: 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,’ Biden said Tuesday night. ‘The one thing Putin counted on was being able to split NATO.’
Some reporters are allowed into the room during Biden’s fundraising efforts, but cameras – both video and still – are barred, so there’s so recording of that blunder.
The official White House transcript from one of Biden’s fundraisers Tuesday night in Chevy Chase, Maryland, shows that he said Iraq then too, instead of Ukraine
On Wednesday as the president walked toward Marine One he also bristled when asked about the branding effort around ‘Bidenomics.’
Biden asserted it was the media – specifically The Wall Street Journal – who dubbed his economic agenda ‘Bidenomics.’
However the White House has used the term in recent days – just as Democrats colloquially use ‘Obamacare’ to refer to the Affordable Care Act healthcare law.
‘Well, look, you guys branded it. I didn’t. I never called it ‘Bidenomics,’ and so I was asked a question,’ the president said.
A reporter pointed out that the White House’s economics team had been using the term in recent days.
‘Now wait, let’s get it straight. The first time it was used was in the Wall Street Journal. OK? And I don’t go around beating my chest ‘Bidenomics’ so the press started calling it Bidenomics,’ he said.
Despite his tone when answering the questions, Biden said he liked the term.
‘No, I like it, it’s fine,’ he said, noting that it referred to ‘my policies.’
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