Biden Stumbles with Mute Button and His Words in Embarrassing Call With Putin
Before President Joe Biden could present himself as a tough, credible leader of the free world, a force to be reckoned with, he first needed to figure out how to take himself off of mute. In an embarrassing moment, Biden seemed to begin speaking to Putin, but no audio could be heard. His...
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Before President Joe Biden could present himself as a tough, credible leader of the free world, a force to be reckoned with, he first needed to figure out how to take himself off of mute. In an embarrassing moment, Biden seemed to begin speaking to Putin, but no audio could be heard.
His microphone was muted. Putin sat patiently, smiling, and said “I welcome you, Mr. President.” After some clear fumbling, Biden said “there you go” once he was able to unmute himself.
Unfortunately, Biden would have done himself a greater service by not unmuting himself. Once he was audible, his words were just as fumbled as his search for the mute button. “Hello! Ha, ha ha, ha, ha. Good to see you again” said Biden.
“I uh, unfortunately last time I – we didn’t get to see each other at the G20. I hope next time we meet, we do it in person” Biden said. Putin was left with little choice but to smile and nod. Despite the rocky start, the White House released a statement saying the call was productive.
Biden “voiced the deep concerns of the United States and our European Allies about Russia’s escalation of forces surrounding Ukraine and made clear that the U.S. and our allies would respond with strong economic and other measures in the event of military escalation.”
“The two presidents tasked their teams to follow up, and the U.S. will do so in close coordination with allies and partners. The presidents also discussed the U.S.-Russia dialogue on Strategic Stability, a separate dialogue on ransomware, as well as joint work on regional issues such as Iran” the White House added.
