Joe Biden was in the Northern Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday peace accord.
New Delhi:
A video from US President Joe Biden’s recent trip to Northern Ireland where he appears to have ignored UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has set off a discussion on Twitter. Mr Biden seemed to push the UK leader who, among others, had been waiting for the President at the Belfast International Airport in the now-viral video.
While some on twitter pointed the error made by Mr Biden didn’t recognise Mr Sunak, others said that the US President greeted Rishi Sunak, giving a quick pat on his arm.
However, news agency AFP and American weekly news magazine Newsweek, through a fact-check, claimed that an “edited clip” was circulating on the social media platform.
The debate started with a tweet by Kim Dotcom on April 12. “Joe Biden doesn’t recognize the little brown guy (Prime Minister of UK) and pushes him away to salute the old white guy. The look on the face of@RishiSunak is priceless,” the tweet, viewed 2.6 million times, said.
Joe Biden doesn’t recognize the little brown guy (Prime Minister of UK) and pushes him away to salute the old white guy. The look on the face of @RishiSunak is pricelesspic.twitter.com/kSfuzpaz1s
– Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) April 12, 2023
Joe Biden pushes Rishi Sunak (Prime Minister of the UK) out of the way to salute a random old white guy. (David William McCorkell, Lord Lieutenant of County Antrim) pic.twitter.com/7ebwjnQAri
– Sk Boz Phd (@ProfessorBoz) April 13, 2023
The videos appeared to show Mr Biden moving past Mr Sunak to salute the Lord Lieutenant of County Antrim, David McCorkell, King Charles III’s representative in the region.
“This is false; the claims are based on an edited clip, which cut out seconds of footage that shows the two leaders shaking hands and exchanging words,” AFP said.
There is “little likelihood” that Mr Biden did not recognize Rishi Sunak as the two leaders have seen each other less than a month ago, Newsweek said.
Joe Biden was in the Northern Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday peace accord.
Having helped broker the 1998 deal, the United States remains an influential voice in Northern Ireland’s politics and has sought to protect the peace from the strains caused by Britain’s exit from the European Union.
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