US president Joe Biden mixes up Ukraine and Gaza in humanitarian aid announcement
Joe Biden’s announcement that the US will drop humanitarian aid into Gaza was overshadowed by the 81-year-old president mixing up the Palestinian territory with Ukraine in his speech.
The octogenarian is facing a crisis of trust about his gaffes among US voters as he prepares for to bid for re-election in November. He also recently mistook presidents of Mexico and Egypt.
But two days after his doctor said he was “fit for duty” the president provided a gift to his detractors on Friday when he made the announcement in the White House.
Mr Biden confirmed in his speech that humanitarian aid would be airdropped into the Gaza Strip - although he was let down by a slip of the tongue.
He said: "In the coming days, we're going to join with our friends in Jordan and others who are providing airdrops of additional food and supplies into Ukraine.
“We will seek to try and open up other avenues into Ukraine including the possibility of a marine charter providing huge amounts of humanitarian assistance.”
Mr Biden had been hosting Italian premier Georgia Meloni when he made the speech.
He announced the move after at least 115 Palestinians were killed and more than 750 others were injured, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, on Thursday.
The president said the air drops would begin soon and that the United States was looking into additional ways to facilitate getting aid into the war-battered territory.
"Aid flowing to Gaza is nowhere nearly enough," Mr Biden said. “Now, it's nowhere nearly enough. Innocent lives are on the line and children's lives are on the line.
"We won't stand by until we get more aid in there. We should be getting hundreds of trucks in, not just several."
As for Mr Biden’s chances in November, any slip up is seized upon by his rival Donald Trump, who has claimed to have a “close to 100 per cent chance of winning”.
Despite this boast, Mr Trump still needs to see off Nikki Haley in a round of Republican primaries on Tuesday and the 77-year-old has apparently shown signs of age himself.
He recently confused Ms Haley with Nancy Pelosi - the Democrat speaker.