Dazed Bush Forgets what Country He's In, what Summit He's At (with Video)
Filed by David Edwards and NIck Juliano
"Thank you for being such a fine host of the OPEC summit," Bush said to Australian prime minister John Howard. He quickly corrected himself, "APEC summit," and joked Howard "invited me to the OPEC summit next year. (Such an invitation would be impossible because neither the US or Australia are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.)
Later in the speech, Bush can clearly be heard on tape thanking Howard for visiting "Austrian troops" in Iraq last year, but White House scrubbers fixed that gaffe for him, changing the official government transcript to "Australian," the Associated Press reported.
As Reuters notes, "There are, in fact, no Austrian troops there. But Australia has about 1,500 Australian military personnel in and around" Iraq.
Bush's struggles from the lectern didn't end when he stopped talking either. Press reports indicate he tried to leave the stage through the wrong door, and the Australian prime minister had to point him toward the proper exit, according to the Herald Sun newspaper.
The scene was reminiscent of a 2005 Bush appearance in Beijing, when Bush was thwarted by a locked door after stepping off stage and had to be redirected.
The following video is from MSNBC's Morning Joe, broadcast on September 7.