WASHINGTON – White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday that President Biden twice earlier this week said his uncle Ambrose Finnegan was a cannibal in New Guinea during World War II. He said it was inappropriate to make fun of him for falsely suggesting that he had been eaten by a man. II.
Jean-Pierre made the scolding comments during a regular press conference with Fox News reporter Peter Doocy. Meanwhile, New Guinea residents expressed a mixture of anger and amusement at the 81-year-old president’s comments.
“Why did President Biden say this? [Finnegan] He was shot down – there’s no proof of that – and why does he say his uncle was eaten by cannibals? ” Doocy asked, adding, “That’s a bad way.”
“He lost his life. Look, you shouldn’t joke about this,” Jean-Pierre reprimanded.
“That’s not true. President Biden said his uncle was eaten by cannibals,” Doocy responded.
“Your last line, it’s meant for laughs. It’s meant to be a funny remark,” Jean-Pierre retorted. “And he takes this very seriously. It’s important that his uncle, who served and protected this country, lost his life in the line of duty.”
Biden first hinted that his mother’s brother was eaten by tribesmen Wednesday morning, shortly after visiting a war memorial named after Finnegan in the president’s hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
“He was shot down in an area where there were a lot of cannibals at the time. They never recovered his body, but when I went there the government came back and inspected it and put it on the plane. We found some of that,” Biden said.
Hours later, the president told Pittsburgh steelworkers that Finnegan was “shot down in New Guinea, and the reason their bodies were never found was because it had been there before — there was a real cannibalism in that part of New Guinea.” That’s because there were a lot of races.”
Some residents of present-day Papua New Guinea, near where Finnegan’s plane crashed in 1944, are concerned about cannibalism, which has historically been practiced by some, but not all, tribes in the region. He said he did not appreciate Biden’s comments.
“your [uncle] Michael Kabuni, a lecturer in political science at the University of Papua New Guinea, said: told the Guardian.
“They don’t just eat white people that fall from the sky.”
Some found Biden’s claims humorous.
Alan Bird, governor of East Sepik province, near where Mr Finnegan died, told a British newspaper: “I am truly speechless.”
“I wasn’t offended. It’s really funny,” Bird said. “I think Biden heard that from his parents when he was a kid, and it probably stayed with him throughout his life.”
The military’s official account of Finnegan’s death contradicts the president’s story, and Jean-Pierre confirmed Thursday that Biden’s relatives did indeed die when his plane crashed into the ocean.
“For unknown reasons, the plane was forced to make a forced landing off the northern coast of New Guinea. Both engines failed at low altitude and the nose of the plane hit the water hard,” the Pentagon’s Defense POW and MIA Accounting Bureau said. Announced. To tell.
“Three men were unable to escape from the sinking ship and were lost in the crash. One crew member survived and was rescued by a passing barge. An aerial search the next day found no missing aircraft or missing. No trace of the crew was found.
Biden has a long history of telling demonstrably false personal anecdotes and dubious stories for which no documentation exists, often in an attempt to make a connection to his audience.
The oldest sitting president in history also faces concerns from voters about his cognitive fitness to serve as president. He will be 86 years old when his second term ends in 2029.
This was revealed in a New York Times poll last month. 73% of registered voters While 42% of Americans think Biden is too old to be president, 42% say the same is true of former President Donald Trump, 77, who is seeking a rematch in November.
