Biden sticks to teleprompters as he gives NATO chief Medal of Freedom to kick off 75-year summit

WASHINGTON — President Biden read carefully from teleprompters Tuesday in a speech kicking off NATO’s annual summit — before presenting the alliance’s secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his service.

The 81-year-old president spoke with only a few minor verbal stumbles — at one point grasping for the pronunciation of “Ukraine” — as congressional Democrats debated his political fate following his confused debate performance on June 27.

“[Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine continues and Putin wants nothing less, nothing less than Ukraine’s total subjugation and to end Ukraine’s democracy, to destroy Urains, Urains, Ukraine’s culture, and to wipe Ukraine off the map,” Biden said.

“We know Putin won’t stop in Ukraine, but make no mistake, Ukraine can and will stop Putin.”

Biden spoke just minutes after Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) joined six other House Democrats in publicly demanding that Biden end his campaign for a second term over concerns about his mental acuity.