Mr Biden says Putin is losing “the war in Iraq” – not Ukraine – on the last misstep

President Joe Biden got it wrong twice in 24 hours when he discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, referring to it instead as the war “in Iraq.”

The first apparent misstep occurred on Tuesday when Biden was courting Democratic donors at a fundraiser in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

“Think about this: If anyone had told you — and my staff wasn’t so sure — that we’d be able to bring all of Europe together in attacking Iraq and make NATO completely unified, I think they would have told you that’s not likely,” Biden said. The only thing Putin relied on was his ability to divide NATO.”

The second mistake occurred on Wednesday when Biden left Washington for Chicago, where he delivered a keynote address on his economic philosophy. On the South Lawn, Biden was asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin was weakened after a short-lived rebellion by Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The rebellion, in which Prigozhin marched armed forces towards Moscow, represented the greatest danger to Putin’s power in his decades in power.

“It’s hard to tell, however [Putin’s] It is clear that he is losing the war in Iraq, and he is losing the war at home. “He’s become a bit of a pariah around the world,” Biden told reporters.

The White House did not address Biden’s gaffes.

Biden has long been prone to such gaffes, even before his presidency.

Biden’s critics and Republicans have often seized on these errors as an opportunity to criticize his age and question his fitness for office.

Biden, at 80, is the oldest president in history and will be 82 if re-elected and sworn in for a second term. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner, has just turned 77 and will be 79 at the time of his swearing-in if he wins the general election.

As he faces scrutiny over his health and age following his re-election campaign announcement, Biden’s response has often been a common refrain: “Watch me.”

Biden previously told ABC News that he took a “hard look” at his age when considering whether to run for re-election and respected Americans who do the same.

“I took a good look at it before I decided to run, and I feel good,” Biden told White House correspondent Mary Bruce, president of ABC News, in April. “I get excited about the prospects, and I think we’re really about to turn around in a way we haven’t in a long time.”