European leaders have shown their support for US President Joe Biden following his gaffes at the NATO summit in Washington this week.
The 81-year-old is under scrutiny after mistakenly referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin” at the summit and mixing up the names of Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump at a news conference.
As a result, fellow Democrats and other supporters urged Biden to abandon his re-election bid.
Geert Wilders, a member of the Dutch House of Representatives, mocked the president: “President Putin meets with Vice President Trump,” he posted on X.
However, Ukrainian President Zelensky, speaking to Reuters, backed Biden, saying he must be tired. However, he also expressed concern about the president's re-election over Trump.
Other leaders also supported him, saying that slips of the tongue are very common.
“Slips of the tongue happen, and if you always keep an eye on everyone, you will find plenty of them,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said when asked by reporters about Biden’s confusion between Zelensky and Putin.
Talking with him BBCNewly elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the US president is helping him solve several global problems.
“He was actually very fit and mentally agile, in every respect,” Starmer said.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also praised the Democratic candidate for his active role in the summit.
'He ruined everything'
However, Biden made headlines after making a blunder at the summit.
“This was Joe Biden’s chance to win over skeptics. He blew it,” said one The Times of London headline, while Italy The newspaper He concluded that it was the “end of the road for Biden.”
Germany Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung described Biden’s closing news conference as a “humiliation… To put it harshly: the dignity of the officeholder has been irreversibly tarnished.”
From Switzerland New Zurich newspaper believes the Republican candidate can only be defeated if Biden withdraws from the race.
“An old man who flexes his political muscles and raises his brittle voice does not give the impression of being powerful… This president is not fit for a second term,” wrote the Zurich newspaper.
