President Biden forgot that he was speaking in Midtown Manhattan Wednesday and instead welcomed world leaders to Washington — making his latest staggering gaffe after being forced to end his campaign for a second term due to Democratic concerns about his mental acuity.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you. Welcome to Washington,” Biden, 81, said at the InterContinental New York Barclay hotel about five minutes’ walk north of the iconic Chrysler Building.
Biden launched into his speech without missing a beat, suggesting he did not know he made the mistake.
“Fellow leaders, friends, for 944 days [Russian President Vladimir} Putin has waged his vicious onslaught against Ukraine,” he said at the gathering of Western leaders reaffirming their support for Kyiv.
The event was timed to coincide with the annual meeting of the United National General Assembly in New York, which Biden addressed on Tuesday.
Biden spoke ahead of Zelensky at the Wednesday gathering.
The American leader called his counterpart “Mr. President” without using his surname — after Biden stunned attendees of the annual NATO summit in July, at which Biden introduced Zelensky as “President Putin,” making that error just hours before also calling Kamala Harris “Vice President Trump.”
Speakers following Biden included UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who appeared in-person and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who spoke via video feed.
Biden is the oldest-ever American president and ended his campaign for a second term on July 21 after a disastrous debate against former President Donald Trump, 78, on June 27, at which the incumbent appeared confused and made incoherent remarks such as that he “finally beat Medicare.”
The commander in chief has rejected calls for his resignation from leading Republicans and even some Democrats.
“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in July after Biden stepped aside and endorsed Harris as substitute Democratic nominee.
“I doubt the president’s judgment about his health, his fitness to do the job, and whether he is the one making important decisions about our country, rather than unelected advisers,” Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) said days earlier.
“Americans deserve to feel their president is fit enough to do the job.”
Biden’s term ends on Jan. 20.
