The Horn News

Proudly American, Fiercely Independent

Watch: Bumblin’ Biden made three big mistakes this week… in the span of 15 minutes

By: The Horn editorial team

After Friday, President Joe Biden will return to Washington after the United Nations meeting in New York… and after leaving a trail of embarrassments in his wake.

During the weeklong meeting, Biden made three big errors in front of Brazil’s President Luiz “Lula” da Silva, leader of the western hemisphere’s second-largest nation.

And he did it all in the span of 15 minutes.

First off, Biden walked into a post bearing the flag of Brazil. In the past, a physical exam revealed a neuropathy is his foot.

Then, Biden struggled with the earpiece, presumably a device meant to translate Lula’s speech from Portuguese to English. At one point, Biden dropped a folder in order to deal with the earpiece.

Finally, Biden hurried off stage away from Lula, who appeared to make an annoyed gesture with his arm. Contrary to some reports, Biden did — in fact — shake Lula’s hand on that stage, according to a video of the event. However, Biden still shuffled offstage and left Brazil’s president looking visibly irked.

Take a look —

Initial hopes that Lula would prove a staunch ally for Biden have been tempered in recent months, with the Brazilian leader voicing opposition on some issues and at times even seeming to thumb his nose at Washington.

That has included dismissing allegations of Venezuela’s authoritarianism, calling for decreased dependence on the dollar for global trade and accusing the U.S. of fueling bloodshed in Ukraine by providing military aid — and refusing to supply munitions himself. In his speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Lula criticized the U.S. embargo and sanctions targeting Cuba.

The White House issued a readout that showed Biden privately raised some of his policy disagreements with Lula.

After the U.N. meeting in New York, Biden is set to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington.

Even before the mishaps with Brazil’s president, Biden was set to skip Wednesday’s major summit regarding global warming. Maybe Biden did the right thing by appearing in public less.

 

The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.