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Joe Biden trolled for saying 'Iranian' instead of 'Ukrainian' in first SOTU address

'Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he'll never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people,' Biden said in his speech

U.S. President Joe Biden had a slip of the tongue moment when he mistakenly referred to the Ukrainians as "Iranian people" in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, March 1. Biden's address comes just days after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, to which the president responded by imposing strict sanctions. 

In his speech, Biden made an emotional appeal to put up a united front against the Russian aggression. "Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he’ll never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people," he said. Soon after, the word "Iranian" began trending on Twitter and other social media platforms. It should be noted that this is not the first time that the 79-year-old has tripped over words. Last year, Biden mistakenly called his Vice President Kamala Harris as "President Harris".

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Commenting on the mix-up, a Twitter user said, "Did Biden say Iranian instead of Ukrainian??". A second user added, "Let's get it right Biden. It's UKRAINIAN PEOPLE. Not IRANIAN". A third wittily wrote, "Yes, if you take 'The Ukrainian' and swallow the 'k' you get 'The Iranian'. Between Biden and the last guy I know who could point them out on a map, or list their neighbors." A fourth commented, "Biden thinks Kyiv is in Iran, and getting invaded with tanks isn't a big deal because your heart won't be captured. Truly laughable."

"Uranian or Iranian. We know by context that he meant Ukrainian. Biden was a stutterer. It's common for former stutterers to mispronounce similar sounding words. He started to do it a couple of times, then self corrected. This is a normal speech pattern. You mocking stutterers?", asked a Biden supporter. "People making fun of President Biden for his pronunciation of Ukraine and claiming he said Iranian should reconsider the cruelty of their words - the man overcame a stutter to become a senator, Vice president and President of the United States. How many of you have done that?", commented another supporter.