Joe Biden Flubs NATO Speech in Teleprompter Fail

U.S. President Joe Biden flubbed part of a speech about NATO, which he delivered in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius on Wednesday, as he struggled with the teleprompter.

Biden was speaking about the importance of the military alliance in the courtyard at Vilnius University, where a crowd had gathered to hear his remarks. The president briefly garbled some words about NATO membership.

Reading from a teleprompter, Biden said: "Soon NATO will be the 32nd freestanding, have free, 30 free, 32 freestanding members."

The speech came following a two-day NATO summit amid continued discussion about if and when Ukraine might be able to join the alliance. The allies also addressed concerns about the U.S. decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine.

The president appeared to laugh off the flub as he looked away from the teleprompter and into the crowd, some of whom also laughed, before Biden returned to reading his speech, talking of "standing together to defend our people and our territory."

Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email for comment.

Though Biden seemed to shrug off the error, the moment was shared to Twitter by RNC Research, which is managed by the Republican National Committee and shares content critical of Biden and the Democrats.

The RNC Research account described the moment as "Biden vs. teleprompter," before quoting his remarks. The tweet had been viewed more than 500,000 times as of early Thursday morning.

Journalist Tom Elliott also shared a clip of the moment and was critical of the White House, tweeting: "The WH advance staff really needs to do a better job ensuring Biden never has to say words."

Despite the brief garbled line, Biden used his speech to emphasize the importance of NATO. His remark about "32 freestanding members" was a reference to the fact that Sweden will soon become the 32nd country in the alliance after another member, Turkey, agreed to support its accession.

"Today, our alliance remains a bulwark of global security and stability as it's been for more than seven decades," Biden told the crowd in Vilnius.

"NATO is stronger, more energized, and yes, more united than ever in its history," the president went on. "Indeed, more vital to our shared future. It didn't happen by accident."

The president also once again committed continuing support to Ukraine as it fights back against a Russian invasion that began in February last year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pushed for NATO membership and he's been critical about the lack of a clear timeline.

"We will not waver," Biden said on Wednesday. "I mean that. Our commitment to Ukraine will not weaken. We will stand for liberty and freedom today and tomorrow and for as long as it takes."

Zelensky also expressed satisfaction with the summit, which he attended this week, saying: "We have great unity from our leaders and security guarantees, that is a success for this summit, I think so, but it's my opinion."