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During a speech in South Carolina on Friday night, President Joe Biden appeared to confuse Russian President Vladimir Putin with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. While commending the resilience of Ukrainians, Biden made a puzzling comment about meeting the Russian leader.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in Ukraine and have met with Putin more than any other world leader,” Biden stated, seemingly mixing up the two leaders during his address.
The 83-year-old president’s remarks came shortly after he criticized former President Donald Trump for not acknowledging the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in his recent, extensively long State of the Union address.
While Biden condemned Trump for omitting mention of the invasion, he inadvertently referenced Putin, who orchestrated the offensive, as he spoke of the courageous efforts of the Ukrainian people.
“The incredible bravery of those people,” Biden continued. “Imagine how they feel, questioning if we are abandoning them. We’re not walking away. He doesn’t apologize.”
Former President Biden and President Putin met for a formal summit in June 16 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. It was the only face-to-face meeting between the two leaders while Biden was president.Â
Meanwhile, Biden and Zelensky held numerous in-person meetings throughout his four year presidency where they encountered one another at international summits, during Zelensky’s visits to Washington, D.C., and during Biden’s 2023 trip to Kyiv.Â
During Friday’s speech Biden had attempted to open with humor aimed at Trump’s address to Congress.
Joe Biden appeared to mix up Russia’s Vladimir Putin with Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday night
Biden praised the ‘bravery of Ukrainians’ before speaking about how he had ‘met Putin more than any other world leader’. Biden is seen with Ukraine’s President Zelensky in Kyiv in 2023
Former President Joe Biden met with Russian President Valdimir Putin in Geneva in June 16, 2021. It was to be their only face-to-face meeting while Biden was in office
‘By the way did you see Trump give the State of Union….is he still talking?’ Biden joked, stumbling over his words yet drawing laughter.
But it was when he shifted from mocking Trump to reflecting on his own foreign policy experience that the mixup occurred.Â
‘I don’t know. But folks, it’s unbelievable. The guy talks for almost two hours, but never mentions the anniversary of Putin invading Ukraine. Never once.’
The phrasing sparked instant reaction online, with critics arguing the 83-year-old former president appeared to blur the lines between Russia’s president and Ukraine’s wartime leadership.
Biden did not clarify the remark during the speech.Â
The appearance marked one of Biden’s rare public outings since leaving office.Â
After Trump’s return to the White House, Biden has largely stayed out of the spotlight.
In May, he announced he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer that had spread to his bone, and a spokesperson said in October that he had been receiving radiation and hormone therapy.
Former President Joe Biden is seen greeting the crowd after speaking to the South Carolina Democratic Party on Friday in Columbia
South Carolina Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn introduced Biden at the event on Friday
The South Carolina event was meant to be sort of political homecoming and a celebratory return to South Carolina, where Biden marked the sixth anniversary of his pivotal 2020 primary victory.
The win revived his faltering presidential campaign and ultimately propelled him to the White House.
‘Thank you,’ Biden told supporters as Rep. Jim Clyburn introduced him at an event hosted by the state Democratic Party in Columbia. ‘It’s good to be back home.’
‘My buddy Jim Clyburn, you brought me back!’ Biden said, recalling the congressman’s crucial endorsement in 2020.
Clyburn praised him in return.
‘There is no American ever who has demonstrated through his service more substance and, I might add, sustenance, than Joe Robinette Biden Jr.,’ he said.