In a recent exchange with reporters outside the White House, President Biden made a geographical misstep, stating that Russian President Putin is "clearly losing the war in Iraq." This verbal stumble, quickly circulating on social media, was notably absent from USA Today's coverage of the event.

President Biden's full comment, made in response to a question about Putin's weakened standing after a recent mercenary uprising, was: "It’s hard to tell, but he’s clearly losing the war in Iraq. He's losing the war at home, and he has become a bit of a pariah around the world." While some news outlets speculated that Biden intended to say "Ukraine," USA Today's report omitted the Iraq reference entirely.

USA Today's White House correspondent, Francesca Chambers, focused solely on the remainder of Biden's statement, writing, "’He’s losing the war at home.  And he has become a bit of a pariah around the world,’ Biden said of Putin." This selective quoting prompted Twitter to append a "Readers added context" note to the shared article, clarifying Biden's original statement.

Despite the online attention drawn to the omission, USA Today defended its reporting, asserting that the partial quote adhered to their editorial guidelines and did not misrepresent the President's words.

Other reporters, such as Bloomberg's Jenny Leonard, also initially truncated Biden's quote. However, after receiving a similar "missing context" flag on Twitter, Leonard later acknowledged the gaffe, noting that it was the second time that week Biden had confused Iraq and Ukraine. She referenced a previous incident at a fundraiser in Chevy Chase where Biden made the same mistake.

In addition to the "Iraq" gaffe, President Biden's appearance during the media interaction also drew attention due to visible marks on his face. The White House later clarified that these were from a CPAP machine used to treat sleep apnea, a condition Biden has openly acknowledged.