Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape clapped back at Joe Biden, after the U.S. president implied his uncle — an American World War II pilot — had been eaten by “cannibals” after crashing on the Pacific island.
“President Biden’s remarks may have been a slip of the tongue; however, my country does not deserve to be labeled as such,” Marape said in a statement, several media outlets reported Monday.
Biden made the controversial remark last week, when recounting the death of his uncle Ambrose Finnegan, an Army Air Corps member who flew reconnaissance missions during World War II.
“And he got shot down in New Guinea, and they never found the body because there used to be — there were a lot of cannibals, for real, in that part of New Guinea,” Biden said while speaking at the United Steelworkers headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Defending his country, Marape also urged Biden to “clean up” the remains of World War II casualties “scattered all over” Papua New Guinea.
“Perhaps, given President Biden’s comments and the strong reaction from PNG and other parts of the world, it is time for the USA to find as many remains of World War II in PNG as possible, including those of servicemen who lost their lives like Ambrose Finnegan,” he said.
Biden has repeatedly slipped up with memory lapses and gaffes as he runs against Republican candidate Donald Trump for a second term in the White House.
@BoastfulZebraPatriot2wks2W
Of all Biden's crazy stories, New Guinea cannibals' eating his uncle is actually the most plausible.
@JollyIdealisticVeteran2wks2W
Umm how? It is a given whenever Biden opens his mouth AND tells a story, he is lying. After he told this story, a person knew he was lying AND after the military reported what really happened to his uncle….Biden was lying. At what point did you think Biden was telling the truth?
JUST IN: The White House admits Joe Biden was lying when he suggested that his uncle was eaten by cannibals in New Guinea during WW2.
Wow, I definitely thought this was a true story.
Karine Jean-Pierre tried deflecting by saying Biden was simply just expressing how "incredibly proud" he was of his uncle before admitting the story was false.
"You saw the president, he was incredibly proud of his uncle’s service in uniform."
Jean-Pierre then admitted that his uncle Ambrose Finnegan actually died by crashing into the Pacific.
"You saw him respond to all of you when asked about the moment yesterday and his uncle who lost his life when the military aircraft he was on crashed in the Pacific after taking off near New Guinea."
@GloomyPolentaPatriot2wks2W
I’ve never heard of “expressing you’re proud” of a relative by claiming they were eaten by cannibals
@ShyD3fenceGreen2wks2W
Yeah if I was proud of a relative, I wouldn't lead with telling people about how they were eaten by cannibals.
So some cannibals ate his Uncle? We are getting closer to him saying that Gilligan, Mary Ann, and the Skipper built a grass hut for his grandpa while Friday kept an eye out for the pirates.
@PoliticBurritosDemocrat2wks2W
Well no, they never found his body. But. Apparently New Guinea folks liked to eat dead people.
Biden, for the third time in less than 24 hours, tells the dubious story about his "Uncle Bosey" and "a lot of cannibals" in New Guinea before repeating the debunked "suckers and losers" hoax.
He also claims D-Day was on a Sunday (it was on a Tuesday).
HE IS NOT WELL.
@ISIDEWITH2wks2W
@ISIDEWITH2wks2W
@ISIDEWITH2wks2W
@ISIDEWITH2wks2W
@ISIDEWITH2wks2W
@AbjectHedgehogDemocrat2wks2W
Can you imagine if Trump did this?
The historical activity of users engaging with this general discussion.
Loading data...
Loading chart...
Loading the political themes of users that engaged with this discussion
Loading data...