Former US President George W Bush grabbed headlines on Thursday for a gaffe he made while speaking about the Russia-Ukraine war at an event in Dallas. At the podium, he condemned the full-scale invasion by Russia as "brutal" and "unjustified". However, he mistakenly said "invasion of Iraq". In no time, he corrected himself: "I mean, Ukraine".
Bush then joked about his 'senior moment' — "Anyway, 75 (years old)," and the audience burst into laughter.
Bush critics have gleefully played up the country's 43rd president's "Freudian slip". Nina Turner, a former Ohio State Senator, shared Bush's speech video on Twitter and captioned it: "Freudian slip if I ever saw one! He told the truth for once!" She was referring to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 during Bush's first term as US President.
Bush's remarks quickly went viral on social media after the clip was tweeted by a Dallas News reporter. The video gathered over three million views on Twitter alone, a report said.George W. Bush: “The decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq—I mean Ukraine—Iraq, too.”
Freudian slip if I ever saw one! He told the truth for once! pic.twitter.com/BavmfkWTyN— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) May 19, 2022
Speaking in Dallas this afternoon, former President George. W Bush made a significant verbal slip-up while discussing the war in Ukraine.
He tried referencing what he described as the “wholly unjustified and brutal invasion” — but said Iraq, instead of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/tw0VNJzKmE— Michael Williams (@michaeldamianw) May 19, 2022
Remember when he had said, "The left hand now knows what the right does" during a speech long ago? The crowd was left in splits when he mixed up his right hand with his left.
Bush is not the only US president to have made faux pas in public. Joe Biden once referred to his vice-president Kamala Harris as "First Lady", while Donald Trump's "Covfefe" tweet still draws a chuckle or two.
Joe Biden's slip-ups
Biden was never considered a gifted orator. A few months ago, during his second State of the Union address, Biden raised quite a few eyebrows while expressing sympathy for the "Iranians".
He meant the Ukrainians.
Hitting out at Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine invasion, Biden had said, "Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he will never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people."
Not long after, a clip from his address hit social media. In the clip, VP Harris can be seen mouthing "Ukrainian" following her president's clanger.
LMFAO Kamala appears to mouth “Ukrainian” when Joe Biden said Iranian.pic.twitter.com/E28NEmiPOv
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 2, 2022
This was not it.
During a speech at the Equal Pay Day event at the White House, Biden pointed to Harris and called her the "First Lady". Check out this video:
Joe Biden says "the First Lady's husband has tested positive for covid."
Somebody off to the side is then forced to remind him that is in fact him lmfao. pic.twitter.com/dbAL37OfBP— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 15, 2022
In the video, Biden can be heard saying, "There's been a little change in the arrangement of who is on the stage because of the first lady's husband contracting COVID-19."
He soon realised the goof-up, but somehow made it worse: "She's fine. Second lady — and the first gentleman, how about that?"
In another clip that went viral, Biden was seen closing his eyes during an opening session of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, this year, prompting netizens to wonder if the 79-year-old had nodded off.
Biden appears to fall asleep during COP26 opening speeches pic.twitter.com/az8NZTWanI
— Zach Purser Brown (@zachjourno) November 1, 2021
Trump's 'Covfefe' and '7/11'
Trump made waves — not quite the kind he expected — when he tweeted in 2017: "Despite the constant negative press covfefe." People wondered for days — and probably still haven't figured out — what "covfefe" meant.
No dictionary in the world mentions the word 'covfefe'.
Prior to being elected to the Oval Office, Trump had said at a rally in Buffalo, New York, "I was down there and I watched our police and our firemen down there on 7/11."
Trump, of course, meant 9/11 — the September 9, 2001, terror attack on the World Trade Center.
"Down at the World Trade Centre, right after it came down, I saw the greatest people I've ever seen in action," he added. Watch the clip below:
Trump also once referred to himself as the "precedent" of the USA — Trump's typos are a bottomless mine of comedy gold.
The office of the President of the United States is viewed at the world over with awe and solemnity, but it is moments such as these that serve as a (sometimes funny) reminder that, powerful though these leaders might be, they are still human and so, have their own foibles.
First Published: IST