White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was forced to comment on President Biden’s suggestion that his late uncle was eaten by cannibals.
Speaking aboard Air Force One, Jean-Pierre confirmed that Biden’s maternal uncle, Ambrose Finnegan, was not in fact consumed by New Guinea natives.
“Can we see the ‘cannibal' tab in your book?” a reporter asked, prompting laughter.
“There is no ‘cannibal' tab, what are you talking about? Is that what you—is that what you’re asking me about?” she said.
Jean-Pierre then noted that the president was just “incredibly proud of his uncle’s service" when he told the story about Finnegan.
Speaking to United Steelworkers union members on Wednesday, Biden said his uncle's plane was "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."
Jean-Pierre said, however, that "his uncle ... lost his life when the military aircraft he was on crashed in the Pacific after taking off ... in New Guinea."
That version of the tragic incident was confirmed by the Pentagon’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
“For unknown reasons, this plane was forced to ditch in the ocean off the north coast of New Guinea," the account said of the May 14, 1944, incident. "Both engines failed at low altitude, and the aircraft’s nose hit the water hard."
"The president highlighted his uncle’s story as he made the case for honoring our sacred commitment to — to equip those we send to war and to take care of them and their families when they come home," Jean-Pierre added.
"By embellishing the story?" a reporter followed up.
"I mean, look, I — I don’t have anything beyond — but what I just laid out. But it was a really proud moment for him. It was incredibly emotional," she said, referring to Biden's time looking for his uncle's name at the war memorial.
"And I think we can’t — we can’t forget that moment," the press secretary continued. "And we cannot also forget what it means to be a commander-in-chief, what it means to lift up our service members, what it means to make sure that we respect their service."
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