Speaking about the European debt crisis in Munich over the weekend, Vice President Joe Biden referred to Portugal as Poland. The White House later corrected the gaffe in its official transcript:
We have seen positive steps recently to address the eurozone crisis, with the European Central Bank pledging to stand behind countries willing to launch reforms, and with Greece, Ireland, Poland* [*sic-Portugal], Spain and Italy all taking important steps to put their economies on a sounder path.
Poland is not part of the Eurozone, and has a much “sounder” economy than its struggling European counterpart.
The Poland slip wasn’t the only goof in the Vice President’s speech, the Telegraph reports. He also mixed up former Sens. Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar, a mistake also dutifully noted in the official transcript.
In each of our countries, we’ve had fine men and women who have made significant contributions while they were actively involved in the political process. But many of them, upon leaving that political office they held, recede into private life and their contributions end. I would suggest that Dick Lugar’s* [*sic- Sam Nunn’s] contributions have been as profound from the day he left the United States Senate and public elective office as they have been when he was in public office, and I believe you’ll see the same thing can be said of my very close friend, Sam Nunn* [*sic Dick Lugar].
