An attempt by Fox News’ Jesse Watters to mock President Joe Biden for mixing up Iraq and Ukraine went comically awry when the host managed to confuse so countries himself.
Watters, a longtime Fox News anchor who was recently announced as Tucker Carlson’s replacement on the network, was discussing two recent gaffes by Mr Biden that saw the president say “Iraq” when he meant to say “Ukraine”.
Commenting on the internal uprising in Russia that left its president Vladimir Putin on the back foot over the weekend, Mr Biden said Mr Putin was “clearly losing the war in Iraq and losing the war at home” in the latest in a series of verbal blunders for the gaffe-prone president.
But Watters’ attempt to chide Mr Biden flopped when he commented that the president “comes out and confusing Iraq with Afghanistan,” adding: “Fine, just don’t send Iran $800bn,” referencing the aid the US has sent Ukraine since Russia invaded at the beginning of 2022.
Despite Watters’ derision falling flat, Mr Biden’s increasing repertoire of muddling up words and countries has not gone unnoticed – being widely reported in both right and left-wing media outlets, with clips of such gaffes viewed thousands of times on social media.
And with the 2024 election on the horizon, questions persist about the suitability of Mr Biden, who at 80 years old is the oldest sitting president in US history, followed by former President Donald Trump, to continue in the role for a second term.
However, the president himself has insisted his age is not an issue.
“With regard to age, I can’t even say how old I am, I can’t even say the number. It doesn’t register with me,” Mr Biden recently said of his age potentially being an issue for voters.
“I respect them taking a hard look at it — I’d take a hard look at it, as well. I took a hard look at it before I decided to run, and I feel good. I feel excited about the prospects,” he added.
