2023-06-17 00:46:16
Slip or inside joke? “God save the Queen”: it is with this astonishing formula that US President Joe Biden concluded a speech on Friday devoted to the fight against gun violence. The 80-year-old Democrat had just spoken at a rally in West Hartford, Connecticut (northeast), devoted to the regulation of firearms.
While he had already ended his speech with a classic “God bless you all and may God protect our troops”, Biden addressed the audience to explain that he could not as usual linger to greet the participants, but that he was going to pose for photos. It was then that he exclaimed “Alright, God save the queen, man” (“Are you okay? God save the queen, man”), before putting down the microphone. Without knowing why.
A White House spokeswoman said he was “speaking to someone in the crowd” with the remark, but did not provide further context.
American journalists have noted that he used the same expression when certifying the results of the 2016 presidential election, when Donald Trump was officially confirmed, as if he wanted to say “God saves us all” (“Que Dieu nous save all”).
Customary blunders
The formulation may seem all the more incongruous since it is now King Charles III who reigns in England, and no longer a queen. The American president had also gone to the funeral of Elizabeth II.
The blunders that Joe Biden has been accustomed to for years are systematically noted by his most virulent Republican opponents, who want to see them as a sign of impaired mental faculties.
The American president responds to these attacks with strokes of humor. He also highlights the “wisdom” acquired during his long political life, as well as his political and diplomatic successes.
In his speech on Friday, he joked about his age. Referring to the unsuccessful fight for years to toughen the law on firearms and the weariness of activists, the American president launched: “You are tired. I understand. But try to get back to it at 110. “.
In polls, a majority of voters believe Joe Biden, the 2024 presidential candidate, is too old to run again. The Democrat would be 86 at the end of a second term.
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