Joe Biden Confuses Ukraine and Iraq

President Joe Biden confused Iraq and Ukraine while speaking to reporters over the weekend in France.

Biden spoke to reporters at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in Belleau, France, on Sunday following his trip to Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

During his remarks, the president spoke about a holdup of aid to Ukraine amid its ongoing war with Russia when he accidentally confused Ukraine and Iraq.

"The idea that we become semi-isolationists now, which some are talking about—I mean, the idea we had to wait all those months just to get the money for Iraq that we—because we were waiting. I mean, it just—it just—it's not who we are. It's not who America is," Biden said.

The White House transcript of Biden's remarks show that he originally said Iraq, but it was edited to correctly state Ukraine.

"The idea that we become semi-isolationists now, which some are talking about—I mean, the idea we had to wait all those months just to get the money for Iraq [Ukraine] that we—because we were waiting. I mean, it just—it just—it's not who we are. It's not who America is," the White House's transcript states.

Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email for comment.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced details regarding a new aid package to Ukraine.

"This announcement is the Biden Administration's fifty-ninth tranche of equipment to be provided from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021. This Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) package, which has an estimated value of $225 million, will provide Ukraine additional capabilities to meet its most urgent battlefield needs, such as: air defense interceptors; artillery systems and munitions; armored vehicles; and anti-tank weapons," the DOD said in a statement on its website.

Meanwhile, this not the first time Biden has confused Ukraine and Iraq.

"Think about this: If anybody told you—and my staff wasn't so sure, either—that we'd be able to bring all of Europe together in the onslaught on Iraq and get NATO to be completely united, I think they would have told you it's not likely," the president said in June 2023 during a fundraiser. "The one thing [Russian President Vladimir] Putin counted on was being able to split NATO."

Biden also told reporters last June that Putin is "clearly losing the war in Iraq, losing the war at home. And he has become a bit of a pariah around the world."

Biden's latest gaffe comes amid ongoing questions and concerns about his age, mainly among Republicans, as he seeks reelection this year.

Republicans have continued to seek the release of a transcript between Biden and special counsel Robert Hur following an investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents that were found at his Delaware home and his Washington, D.C., office.

Hur's report, which said no charges would be filed, described Biden, 81, as an "elderly man with a poor memory."

The Wall Street Journal recently published a report detailing that Biden has recently shown signs of "slipping" amid questions surrounding his age and mental acuity. The newspaper said that mostly Republicans who have had closed-door conversations with Biden expressed concern over his age, but added that "some Democrats said that he showed his age in several of the exchanges."

Former President Donald Trump, who is 77 years old and the presumed 2024 GOP presidential nominee, has also faced questions about his mental acuity and age after making a series of gaffes on the campaign trail.

In a previous Newsweek poll conducted last year, a majority of voters across all generations believe that aging politicians should be tested for mental fitness, with support for the measure being slightly stronger among Americans aged between 57 and 75—the so-called baby boomers.

The poll was conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on behalf of Newsweek among a sample population of 1,500 eligible voters in the country. It found that 75 percent of all Americans agree that politicians of a certain age should be required to take competency tests to prove their mental fitness for office, with support rising with age.

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