Joe Biden’s time as President has seen a number of high-profile gaffes (Image: Getty)
Joe Biden has pulled out of the US presidential election after an increasing number of gaffes and pressure from his fellow Democrats.
For years, the president has been involved in a number of embarrassing missteps and stumbles. Recently he called his own vice-president Kamala Harris “Donald Trump” and mistook Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
As well as verbal gaffes, Biden has fallen off his bike, nodded off at the COP26 convention in 2021 – a moment that saw his opponent Donald Trump brand him “sleepy Joe” – and even walked into a flag pole.
It led to the US president defending his own cognitive ability. He said: “I have taken three significant, intense, neurological exams by a neurologist. In each case, as recent as February, they say I’m in good shape.”
However in recent weeks, the pressure on the 81-year-old to stand down continued to mount, and he has now announced he is pulling out, supporting Harris for the Democrat’s candidacy. Here we look at some of his top gaffes.
READ MORE: Warning Kamala Harris’s White House bid may be sunk by ‘huge divide’
Joe Biden speaking at the NATO summit (Image: Getty)
Mistaking Volodymyr Zelensky with Vladimir Putin
At the NATO summit, with concerns already circling about Biden’s advancing age, he introduced Ukrainian president Zelensky as “President Putin”. It sparked audible gasps from the audience with world leaders shouting out the correct name.
Biden went on to say the gaffe was because he was “so focussed” on defeating Putin, adding: “No, we’re going to beat Putin.” It came over two-and-a-half years after Putin’s Russia invaded Ukraine.
Introducing Kamala Harris as “VP Trump”
Just hours after suffering the embarrassing gaffe with Zelenskyy, Biden called his own vice-president, Harris, “VP Trump”. Bizarrely, his blunder came as he attempted to defend his viability as a presidential candidate.
When asked about Harris’ chances of defeating Trump, Biden said: “Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, did I think she’s not qualified to be president.”
Biden recently called Harris “VP Trump” (Image: Getty)
Walking into a flag pole
On September 20, Biden appeared to be producing gaffe after gaffe during a meeting with Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The South American leader appeared visibly miffed when Biden forgot to shake his hand after a speech.
The meeting didn’t start off too well for the American politician either, with Biden walking into a large Brazil flag, leaving the pole swaying. Biden then continued to fumble his headset as he attempted to listen to the translation of Lula’s speech, eventually dropping the earpiece on the floor.
Falling asleep at COP26
A gaffe that was capitalised on by Trump was Biden appearing to doze off at the COP26 summit in 2021. With the conference largely going off without a hitch, Biden was spotted closing his eyes for around 20 seconds during a speech from Eddie Ndopu.
After being approached by an aide, Biden joined in with the applause along with other delegates. At the time, questions had already begun to surface about Biden after he fell on the stairs of Air Force One three times.
Joe Biden appears to fall asleep at COP26
Calling Defence Secretary ‘a Black man’
During an interview, Biden appeared to forget the name of his own Defence Secretary, Lloyd Austin, instead opting to refer to him as “the Black man”. The 81-year-old was on the campaign trail in Las Vegas at the time, a trip that was cut short after he contracted COVID-19.
Speaking to Black Entertainment Television, Biden said: “It’s all about treating people with dignity. For example, look at the heat I’m getting because I named a, uh, the Secretary of Defense, a black man.”
Asking ‘where’s Jackie’ after Jackie Walorski died
In September 2022, Biden called out “where’s Jackie” a month after congresswoman Jackie Walorski died in a car crash. Weeks earlier the US President had put out a statement saying he was “shocked and saddened” by the news of her death.
At a White House conference on tackling hunger however, he said: “Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie?” Under his breath he could then be heard muttering: “I think she was going to be here.”
Biden later met with the Walorski family to privately apologise, with the conversation lasting about 30 minutes, the New York Post reported. The family later confirmed they had forgiven him.
All Joe Biden’s embarrassing falls
Falling over on the steps of Air Force One
On a number of occasions, Biden has fallen on the steps of Air Force One. It is said to have prompted the Secret Service to put agents at the bottom of the stairs as a precaution.
He even reportedly switched to use the shorter steps on the plane’s underbelly, instead of the larger, more grand steps of the Boeing 747.
The New York Post reported: “Even the way Mr. Biden walks to the presidential aircraft is subject to careful management. The president started taking a short flight of stairs directly into the belly of Air Force One, rather than a tall stairway wheeled up to a higher point on the plane, after he tripped and fell over a sandbag during a commencement ceremony this past summer.”
Falling off his bike
While celebrating his 45th wedding anniversary near to his Rehoboth Beach home in Delaware, Biden fell off his bike. He told reporters at the scene he was “good,” but confessed he had difficulties removing his feet from the pedals.
Biden, then 79, had cycled over to the crowd of onlookers as people yelled “Happy Father’s Day” to the president. However he was trying to get off the bike when he fell, prompting a huge reaction from the Secret Service.
