U.S. President Joe Biden reacts as he attends a press conference during NATO’s 75th anniversary summit, in Washington, U.S., July 11, 2024. REUTERS/Leah Millis
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman joked on Friday that Joe Biden is “a pro-Russian candidate being controlled by the Kremlin” after the U.S. president mistakenly introduced Ukraine’s leader as “President Putin” before correcting himself. This incident occurred at a NATO summit in Washington on Thursday and was widely covered by Russian media, where state TV commentators often depict Biden, 81, as a senile figure prone to gaffes, in contrast to Putin, 71, whom they portray as a strategic genius.
Biden’s mix-up of his Republican rival Donald Trump’s name with that of Kamala Harris, his vice-president, also received attention. Pro-Kremlin TV commentator Olga Skabeyeva posted a clip of Biden’s slip-up on social media with a laughing emoji, commenting, “The show from Joe goes on!” beneath footage of the Trump/Harris name confusion.
At a time when some fellow Democrats are calling for Biden to abandon his re-election bid, these gaffes have added fuel to the fire. Despite this, Biden has insisted on continuing his campaign, asserting he is the best candidate to defeat Trump in the upcoming November election. The Kremlin noted Biden’s errors, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledging that “the whole world paid attention” and attributing them to mere slips of the tongue. However, he criticized Biden’s derogatory remarks about Putin, calling them “unacceptable.”
In Russia, Biden’s verbal missteps dominated media coverage. Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, criticized Biden, suggesting his frequent mistakes indicated declining mental abilities. Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, used Biden’s error to mock U.S. allegations of Russian interference in American politics, sarcastically suggesting that Biden is a “pro-Russian candidate controlled by the ‘hand of the Kremlin.'”
At a subsequent news briefing, Zakharova accused “the U.S. deep state,” officials, and media of covering up Biden’s condition, comparing it to alleged obfuscation of U.S. activities in Ukraine. She questioned Biden’s ability to make significant decisions, implying that he might be signing important documents without understanding them.
Hawkish Russian foreign policy commentators echoed these concerns, citing Biden’s slips as evidence of declining cognitive abilities and expressing alarm over the leadership of the world’s most powerful military power. The Kremlin, closely monitoring the U.S. election, noted that U.S.-Russia relations have reached their lowest point since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis following Russia’s military actions in Ukraine in 2022.
Despite Washington being Ukraine’s biggest sponsor, Moscow has signaled a willingness to negotiate an end to the conflict, though on terms Kyiv considers equivalent to surrender. Putin has expressed a public interest in Trump’s reported ideas to end the conflict, acknowledging Trump’s sincerity but questioning his plan’s specifics if he were to be re-elected.
COMMENTS