President Biden confused Ukraine and the Gaza Strip in an Oval Office meeting Friday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, marking the latest in a series of mental missteps for the octogenarian president.
Mr. Biden was talking about the need to airdrop humanitarian supplies into Gaza for Palestinians caught in the crossfire between Israel and Hamas when the repeated miscues occurred.
“In the coming days, we are going to join with our friends from Jordan and others to provide airdrops of supplies into Ukraine and seek to open up other avenues into Ukraine, including the possibility of a marine corridor delivering large amounts of humanitarian assistance,” he said, twice mixing up the Middle Eastern territory with the Eastern European country.
“Aid flowing to Gaza is nowhere near enough now — it’s nowhere nearly enough. Innocent lives are on the line and children’s lives are on the line,” he said, appearing to correct himself.
The comments came as Mr. Biden met with Ms. Meloni. Both leaders face challenges in maintaining support for Ukraine in its war against Russian invaders.
As Mr. Biden gears up for a tough reelection fight, the 81-year-old president has had a string of misstatements and mental misfires.
Last week, he mistakenly referred to Alexei Navalny’s widow as Yolanda instead of Yulia after a private meeting.
On Monday, in an appearance with late-night host Seth Meyers, the president mistakenly talked about his “2020 agenda” for the 2024 election.
Earlier this month, he twice mixed up world leaders, confusing them with long-dead predecessors.
Mr. Biden’s age and questions about his cognitive ability are on the rise after special counsel Robert Hur depicted the president as having a memory so bad, noting he couldn’t remember when his son died or when he served as vice president.
An ABC News/Ipsos poll released last week revealed that 86% of Americans say Mr. Biden is too old for another term.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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