Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's reaction to mistakenly being called "Putin" in an embarrassing fumble by President Joe Biden at Thursday's NATO summit in Washington, D.C., has gone wildly viral.
"And now I want to hand it over to the President of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin," Biden said, while announcing the Ukraine Compact – a long-term, bilateral security agreement between NATO countries and Ukraine.
"President Putin? He could beat President Putin," Biden said seconds later after realizing his major flub.
"I'm so focused on beating Putin," he explained.
🇺🇸🇺🇦 Watch Zelensky's reaction as Biden calls him Putin 😭 pic.twitter.com/TfVoAoryDX
— Censored Men (@CensoredMen) July 11, 2024
An edited, side-by-side clip of Zelenskyy's reaction to the President's verbal stumble has since been viewed more than 26 million times. He clearly tried to play it cool, controlling any emotions.
"I'm better," Zelenskyy quipped, comparing himself to Putin in an attempt to downplay the situation.
"You're a hell of a lot better," Biden agreed.
The colossal blunder has since triggered four more House Democrats to publicly call on Biden to bow out of the presidential election, adding to the growing number of politicians within his party to vocalize their doubts over the 81-year-old president's capacity to beat Donald Trump in November.
Biden's catastrophic debate with Trump in June first gave rise to widespread public speculation over his mental aptitude and fitness to carry out a second term if he in fact wins.
