Salaam! Biden botches Saudi Prince's name, then mumbles rest of the speech at G20

US President Joe Biden continued his blunder streak during his short trip to India's capital city over the weekend. The 80-year-old president's latest gaffe came at a meeting of the 18th G20 Summit attended by leaders of the forum on Saturday, in New Delhi, India.

Reading from a sheet of paper placed in front of him, Biden referred to Mohammed bin Salman as "Salam", and then proceeded to mumble the rest of the words mentioned in the document. "The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salam, excuse me, Mohammed bin Salman ... and since he’s not speaking today, I wanted to — well he is speaking today. I had a note he wasn’t speaking."

After realising the goof-up, Biden decided to end his short speech altogether, concluding it with " Anyway, I’m gonna stop there." His mispronunciation went viral on social media and turned into a field day for handles of the Republican National Committee (RNC). 

"Biden is not competent to be President, Commander in Chief or even a greeter at Walmart," wrote one on the platform X. "Every overseas trip is a dementia shtshow," remarked another. A third user added, "Why the hell do we have to be subjected to this embarrassment on the world stage?!? Why?!?" 

BIDEN at the G20: "...and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salam, excuse me, Mohammed bin Salman ... and since he’s not speaking today, I wanted to — well maybe he is speaking today. I had a note he wasn’t speaking. Any rate, I’m gonna stop there." pic.twitter.com/YXjkywusfo

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 9, 2023

Biden greets MBS 

Biden also made headlines for smiling and shaking hands with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the summit, about a year after the duo shared an awkward encounter in Jeddah due to a failed fist bump. Things were even different at the beginning of his administration.

When he ran for president three years ago, Biden asserted that he wanted to make the people of Saudi Arabia “pay the price, and make them in fact the pariah that they are.” On Sunday, he grinned at the prince and engaged in a brief conversation as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi watched in admiration.