Sigh: Biden Butchers New UK Prime Minister's Name, Of Course

In fairness, it's getting hard to keep up with the UK's Prime Ministers, as they've had three within the last two months. Nevertheless, if you're going to mention the new guy as part of an ethnic pander, at least spell his name out phonetically so you're in the ballpark on pronunciation. It's "Rush-ee Soo-nack," Mr. President – not, well, whatever this is.

Nope:

Rashid Sanook? 🤦‍♂️ https://t.co/83WHxMCgsj
— Tim Shipman (@ShippersUnbound) October 25, 2022

At least he didn't mumble something about a 7-11. Sunak makes history as the United Kingdom's first Prime Minister of color (Benjamin Disraeli was Jewish, and therefore a minority), but many on the British Left seem preoccupied not with "diversity," "representation" and "inclusion" – their usual hobby horses – in this case. Instead, they're caught up on Sunak's wealth, tossing around "rich" like it's an epithet. Apparently, "his" fortune is actually his wife's and her family's, but that's beside the point, of course. They don't care about racial history-making if the history is being made by a conservative, just as they weren't keen on celebrating any of their country's three female leaders, all of whom have been Tories. From a political and ideological perspective, Sunak inherits a party in total chaos and flagging badly in the polls. He has until early 2025 at the latest to right the ship. It will be interesting to see how he leads, as one of the youngest PMs in British history (at 42), and coming from the less conservative wing of the Conservative Party.

Meanwhile, back on the home front, let's discuss another apparent Biden glitch. Many conservatives shared this clip over the weekend, goofing on a president who appeared to zone out mid-questioning during an interview with MSNBC. People asked if he'd even nodded off when asked about his 2024 plans and whether the First Lady was on board for a re-election run. In case you missed it, watch:

BIDEN: "It's my intention to run again."

Q: "Dr. Biden is for it?"

BIDEN: *silence*

Q: "Mr. President?"

BIDEN: "Dr. Biden thinks that uh, my wife thinks that uh, that I uh, that, that we're, that we're doing something very important."

🤔 pic.twitter.com/G4GGD32zG2
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 21, 2022

My take is a little different. I don't think he spaced out or was falling asleep. This is pure conjecture on my part, but my interpretation of this awkward exchange is that 2024 may be a sensitive subject inside the Biden household. My guess is that the interviewer asked this quick follow-up as a friendly suck-up, not realizing it pulled the discussion into a minefield. Biden clearly has his typical pat answer about 2024: He "intends" to run, but he hasn't formally decided yet. I have my doubts, but that's what he consistently says. But when he was asked if his wife is supportive of another campaign, he froze up, trying to figure out how to respond. He finally landed on a formulation that the first lady thinks they're doing "very important" work, but that isn't really an answer at all. If I had to guess, there is internal dissension within the Biden family on this question, and Jill Biden might be privately lobbying against a 2024 run. Again, this is speculation by me, but re-watch the clip above through the lens of my theory and see if it seems plausible. I think it very much is. I'll leave you with a somewhat related little slip by the current president: