Biden Repeatedly Confuses Libya, Syria in G-7 Speech

President Joe Biden repeatedly confused the war-torn Middle Eastern nation of Syria with North Africa’s Libya in a speech at the G-7 gathering over the weekend.

“We could work together with Russia, for example, in Libya,” Biden told assembled world leaders. “We should be opening up the passes to be able to go through and provide food assistance and economic — I mean, vital assistance to a population that’s in real trouble.”

The White House later confirmed that Biden intended to say Syria, where Russia has supported President Bashar Assad’s regime since the 2011 uprising that sparked a civil war. Both Biden’s direct predecessor, President Donald Trump, and Biden’s former boss, President Barack Obama, favored the country’s rebels.

Biden successfully pulled off a reference to Syria moments later — before switching it to Libya. “They’ve bitten off some real problems they’re going to have trouble chewing on — for example, the rebuilding of Syria, of Libya, of, you know — they’re there,” he said.

He once more omitted the reference to Syria on a third attempt, saying, “I’m hopeful that we can find an accommodation where we can save the lives of people in, for example, in Libya.”

The gaffe inspired jabs at the president on Twitter, including from Lebanese political commentator Sarah Abdallah. “I guess when you’re bombing so many countries at once, it’s hard to keep up,” Abdallah wrote.

Watch above via The Washington Post.