Right as rain?

Biden errs, calls Ukrainians ‘Iranians’ during State of the Union

In address urging unity against Russian invasion, Biden says ‘Putin… will never gain hearts and souls of Iranian people’; slip trends on social media

By ToI Staff 2 March 2022, 10:26 am

Edit

US President Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, flanked by US Vice President Kamala Harris (left) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, March 1, 2022, in Washington. (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP)

While calling for supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, US President Joe Biden had an apparent slip of the tongue Tuesday night, accidentally calling Ukrainians “Iranian people.”

“Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks,” he said during his first State of the Union address, “but he will never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people.

“He will never extinguish their love of freedom. He will never weaken the resolve of the free world,” Biden added.

The awkward moment immediately began trending on social media, with many conservative pundits taking a jab at Biden.

Video appeared to show US Vice President Kamala Harris, seated behind Behind, mouthing “Ukrainian” following the slip-up.

The 79-year-old president has a history of gaffes and said he had struggled with his speech as a child, spending long hours reciting the works of Irish poet W.B. Yeats and American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson to overcome a stutter.