President Biden appeared to mix up Ukraine and Gaza while talking about the war-torn regions in a bilateral Oval Office meeting with Italy’s prime minister Friday.
‘Today, I also, we’re going to discuss the Middle East and yesterday’s tragic and alarming event in north Gaza, trying to get humanitarian in there and the loss of life is heartbreaking,’ the president said, referring to the dozens killed there Thursday, when humanitarian aid trucks came under fire. He had previously mentioned passing legislation in support of Ukraine.
He continued on Gaza, ‘People are so desperate that innocent people got caught in a terrible war to feed their families. And you saw the response when they tried to get aid. And we need to do more. And the United States will do more in the coming days. We’re going to join with our friends in Jordan and others in providing airdrops of, additional food and supplies into Ukraine and, seek to continue to open up other avenues in the Ukraine, including the possibility of a marine corridor, deliver large amounts of humanitarian assistance in addition to expanding deliveries by land.’
He added that the U.S. would ‘insist that Israel facilitate more trucks and more routes to get more and more people the help they need. No excuses. The truth is, aid flowing to Gaza is nowhere nearly enough.’
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni spoke briefly, and they didn’t take any questions from reporters in the room.
The mix-up is Biden’s latest gaffe. Last month he appeared to confuse NATO with Ukraine while talking to reporters in Delaware, and he also mixed up the presidents of Mexico and Egypt earlier last month.
The 81-year-old’s mental fitness has been under scrutiny since Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report on the president’s mishandling of classified documents last month said he had a ‘poor memory.’
‘We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,’ Hur wrote in the report, explaining that the president would not face any charges.
Former President Trump, the Republican frontrunner, has also had his share of gaffes, most recently in January appearing to confuse opponent Nikki Haley for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.