The White House on Wednesday sought to correct reports that President Biden flubbed a key moment of his State of the Union speech by insisting that he made a different gaffe.
During his speech, Mr. Biden appeared to call Ukrainians the “Iranian people,” while urging them to stand united against unprovoked Russian aggression.
“Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he’ll never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people,” several media outlets reported the president as saying of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But the White House corrected the official transcript of his remarks, saying he didn’t say “Iranian,” but rather “Uranian people.” The transcript was corrected to say “Ukrainian.”
“Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he’ll never gain the hearts and souls of the Uranian [Ukrainian] people. He’ll never — he’ll never extinguish their love of freedom. And he will never, never weaken the resolve of the free world,” the corrected transcript reads.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, wasn’t buying it.
SEE ALSO: Gaffe-prone Biden declares Putin won’t win over ‘Iranian’ people
“The president only mentioned Iran one time, and it was literally by accident,” Mr. McConnell said Wednesday of the speech.
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