European Union leaders have defended Joe Biden amid mounting pressure for the US President to abandon attempts to secure re-election later this year.
Several US Democrats and mainstream media outlets have turned on the leader, with calls for him to abandon his election campaign spiking after he called Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky “President Putin” at a NATO meeting late on July 11.
European heads are supporting Biden, with French President Emmanuel Macron insisting his NATO gaffe was just an honest mistake and not a sign of increasing senility.
NOW – Biden: "And now I want to hand it over to the President of Ukraine… ladies and gentlemen, President Putin." pic.twitter.com/tELnNtTIcC
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 11, 2024
“We all make slips of the tongue. It happened to me, it will probably happen to me tomorrow,” he told reporters.
The French President went on to describe Biden as an “experienced man” who possess a great “depth” of knowledge on international affairs, even when compared to his peers within the NATO alliance.
“I was able to talk with President Biden at length yesterday at dinner. I was also able to listen to him, to talk on the sidelines of the meetings,” Macron said.
“I saw, as always, a President who is in charge, in charge, precise on the issues, which he knows well.”
Similar statements were made by Germany’s Chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
While the German leader said it was not for him to talk about “the outcome of American elections”, he insisted it would be a “mistake” to “underestimate” Biden.
“He is successful in doing the necessary things, for instance, in organising the NATO alliance,” he said.
“And his leadership was very important in the last years and months, and also preparing this very meeting here in Washington. And he is also a successful campaigner.
“So I think it is the American people that will take a decision. And I just can tell you, from my perspective, as someone that is speaking with Biden, he is very focused, and he is very intensely doing what the president of the United States has to do for leading the alliance,” Scholz concluded.
US President Joe Biden warmly welcomed Britain’s new Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Keir Starmer at his first NATO meeting in Washington on the 75th anniversary of the transatlantic military alliance. https://t.co/N8LPz1iwmN
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 11, 2024
Such sentiments did not appear to be shared by those within the US media.
After years of claiming that concerns surrounding Biden’s mental faculties constituted “conspiracy theories“, outlets have seemingly adopted these same concerns following the President’s disastrous performance during a debate with contender Donald Trump.
The issue has even become the butt of jokes for some centre-left comedic pundits, with one clip from the Daily Show showing Jon Stewart cataloguing Biden’s increasingly concerning gaffes going viral online.
.@jonstewart explains where the concerns over Biden's (and Trump's) performance might be coming from…with a chart! pic.twitter.com/qY33Bd5XLK
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) July 9, 2024
“To my mind, the debate was a shocking display of cognitive difficulty recognisable to, unfortunately, everybody with ageing parents, ” Stewart said. “It’s a hard watch.”
Democrat politicians are now calling for Biden to step aside and let another member of the party take on Trump in the race for the White House, with pressure said to be mounting both in public and behind the scenes.
“We cannot unsee President Biden’s disastrous debate performance. We cannot ignore or dismiss the valid questions raised since that night,” said Vermont Democratic Senator Peter Welch, the first in the upper house to come out publicly against Biden continuing his campaign.
“I understand why President Biden wants to run. He saved us from Donald Trump once and wants to do it again.
“But he needs to reassess whether he is the best candidate to do so. In my view, he is not. For the good of the country, I’m calling on President Biden to withdraw from the race.”
COMMENT: The Biden administration failed to establish a bipartisan consensus within NATO on a revived containment policy for Russia. This is a task that the next administration will have to address, writes @ConradMBlack. https://t.co/ZpUS3fdpQL
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) May 29, 2024
