US President Joe Biden’s appearance at the NATO 2024 Summit instigated another flurry of criticism from the media but support among the majority of European leaders.
Biden, 81, introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin” at the Washington summit and then confused the names of his vice president, Kamala Harris, with Donald Trump, his main opponent in the upcoming November election, during the press conference organised by his aides.
Geert Wilders, leader of the right-wing party that won the last Dutch election, mocked Biden by posting the photo of Zelensky and Harris on X with the caption: “President Putin meets Vice President Trump.”
Despite, many top European leaders attending the summit were quite positive about Biden and praised the organisation of the summit. For instance, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said they had been able to discuss a number of issues: “He was actually on really good form, and mentally agile – absolutely across all the detail.”
“Slips of tongue happen, and if you always monitor everyone, you will find enough of them,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz responded to a question from journalists about Biden confusing Zelensky for Putin. French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof supported Scholz.
In terms of the European media, they remain committed that Biden will fail to regain confidence in his sanity. Euractiv reported that the Times of London, Britain’s Guardian, Italy’s Il Giornale, and Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung characterised Biden’s summit speech as a defeat, “the end of the road for Biden” and “humiliation.”
The Swiss daily Neue Zuercher Zeitung said that only replacing Biden would help the Democrats win Biden, stating rather harshly: “An old man flexing his political muscles and raising his brittle voice does not come across as powerful… This president is not fit for a second term.”
