UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has brushed aside concerns over US President Joe Biden’s age and mental fitness, praising his “leadership” following a bilateral meeting in Washington.
Starmer and Biden met at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts, as well as trade and climate change.
When asked later by the BBC if he thought Biden was “senile,” Starmer replied: “No.”
“We had a really good bilateral [meeting] yesterday. We were billed at 45 minutes [but] we went on for the better part of an hour. We went through a huge number of issues at pace,” the prime minister said. He added that Biden “was actually [in] really good form, and absolutely across all the details.”
The conversation was productive, Starmer said, claiming that Biden had shown “incredible leadership.”
Biden made a particularly awkward gaffe the very next day, when he introduced Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to an audience of supporters as “President Putin.” The leaders of NATO countries and the EU, as well as Zelensky himself, were sharing a stage with Biden at the time.
The US leader made more verbal slip-ups during a press conference later on Thursday, including when he confused his vice president, Kamala Harris, with his main reelection rival, former President Donald Trump.
Starmer dismissed concerns about Biden’s health once again on Thursday, saying that he “deserves credit” for hosting the NATO summit in Washington. “I would urge everyone to look at the substance of what’s been achieved over these two days,” he said.
Biden is facing increasing public scrutiny after his disastrous televised debate with Trump last month, when he appeared confused on stage and struggled to finish his sentences.
Multiple Democratic Party politicians and major campaign donors, as well as leading US media outlets and Hollywood celebrities, have urged Biden to end his reelection campaign and allow the party to choose a replacement candidate. Biden has refused to step down, insisting he is best qualified to beat Trump in November.