It’s been a tough week for U.S. President Joe Biden At the NATO summit on Thursday

 

It’s been a tough week for U.S. President Joe Biden.

At the NATO summit on Thursday, Biden made a major gaffe by introducing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin.” Not long after, he mistakenly referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump.”

But Biden, facing internal opposition in his bid for re-election in November, isn’t the only politician mixing up names, places, and facts. His presidential rival Donald Trump has had his fair share of embarrassing blunders too.

POLITICO presents a list of unforgettable political bloopers:

Trump confuses two of his favorite strongmen

Trump is no stranger to mixing up leaders, once confusing his ally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a campaign speech last October. “There’s a man, Viktor Orbán, did anyone ever hear of him? He’s probably, like, one of the strongest leaders anywhere in the world. He’s the leader of Turkey,” Trump said. Perhaps the words “Turkey” and “Hungary” triggered the “things that remind me of eating” part of his brain.

Obama muddles R&B singer with U.K. chancellor

In 2013, former U.S. President Barack Obama mixed up British Conservative Chancellor George Osborne with African American songwriter Jeffrey Osborne during a G8 briefing. Obama interrupted Osborne’s speech three times, offering his support to “Jeffrey.” Obama later apologized, sparking a friendly Twitter exchange where the singer suggested a duet, and the chancellor humorously declined, citing his singing abilities.

Biden confuses his French heads of state

In February, at a rally in Las Vegas, Biden confused current French President Emmanuel Macron with former President François Mitterrand. “Right after I was elected, I went to a G7 meeting in southern England. And I sat down and said, ‘America is back!’ and Mitterand from Germany — I mean France — looked at me and said, ‘How long you back for?’” Biden said. Mitterrand held office from 1981 to 1995 and died in 1996.

Netanyahu feels nostalgic for Yeltsin

In 2019, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mistakenly referred to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as Boris Yeltsin, the former Russian president, during a speech at a Cabinet meeting. “I’ve returned from a very pleasant visit in London, where I’ve met with Prime Minister Boris Yeltsin and the U.S. defense secretary,” Netanyahu said, before correcting himself. Yeltsin died in 2007.

The one where BoJo praises a dictator for his international leadership

In September 2022, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson accidentally thanked Vladimir Putin for his international leadership instead of Zelenskyy, six months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Unlike Biden’s blunder, Zelenskyy wasn’t standing next to Johnson at the time.

Politicians may wish to forget these moments, but we certainly won’t let them!