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Joe Biden referring to Kim Jong Un as ‘South Korean President’ in latest gaffe
US President Joe Biden mixes up Kim Jong Un and South Korean President in latest gaffe.
President Joe Biden made an “autocratic” gaffe in Portola Valley, California, while criticizing his 2024 opponent, former US President Donald Trump.
The 81-year-old president mistakenly referred to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as the “South Korean President” during his speech.
As he was highlighting Trump’s past interactions with foreign leaders, saying, “We’ll never forget his love letters for the South Korean President Kim Jong Un or his admiration for Putin — what a great leader Putin is.”
This slip-up is part of a pattern of Biden's similar mistakes involving world leaders’ names
This gaffe comes after more than a year since President Biden hosted the actual South Korean President, Yoon Suk Yeol, at the White House for a state dinner.
Biden’s history of misnaming leaders dates back to at least May 2022, when he referred to South Korean President Yoon as “President Moon” after a tour of a Samsung micro-chip facility in South Korea. Yoon’s predecessor was Moon Jae-in.
Over the past year, President Biden has also incorrectly named leaders from Mexico, Egypt, France, Germany, and Ukraine.
For instance, in July, during a NATO summit in Lithuania, he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “Vladimir,” which seemed to conflate him with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In February, he confused Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador at a press conference.
Robert Hur defends Biden of ‘poor memory’
Defending himself against accusations of a “poor memory” from former special counsel Robert Hur stated, “As you know, initially, the president of Mexico, Sisi, did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in [to Gaza]. I talked to him. I convinced him to open the gate.”
The 46th US has recounted discussions about the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot with European leaders who were not alive at the time.
On February 7, he told Democratic donors in New York that he had spoken with former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl about the riot, despite Kohl having passed away in 2017.
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He said, “Helmut Kohl said, ‘Joe, what would you think if you picked up the phone and picked up the paper tomorrow and learned in the London Times, on the front page, that 1,000 people stormed the Parliament, broke down the doors of the House of Commons and killed 2 bobbies in the process … trying to stop the election of a prime minister?’”
Switching it to another event he said, “Helmut Kohl of Germany” told me.
