President Joe Biden is well-known for his verbal gaffes, but this latest one really stands out. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, he was asked whether the recent aborted coup in Russia had left President Vladimir Putin weakened. “It’s hard to tell, but he is clearly losing the war in Iraq, he’s losing the war at home, and he has become a bit of a pariah around the world,” Biden responded. Of course, Russia is at war with Ukraine, not Iraq—a country the United States invaded in 2003. It isn’t the first time the president has mixed up the two countries, either. According to Bloomberg News correspondent Nancy Cook, the president referred to Ukraine as “Iraq” at a fundraiser on Tuesday night. The blunder comes as the American public grows increasingly concerned with the 80-year-old commander-in-chief’s age and mental fitness ahead of the 2024 election. In a recent NBC poll, 68 percent of voters said they’re worried Biden “doesn’t have the necessary mental and physical health to be president.” This isn’t to say Americans feel all that confident that Donald Trump, the GOP’s presidential frontrunner, is up to the task either. The same survey found 55 percent of respondents have concerns about the 77-year-old ex-president’s mental and physical health.
