US President Joe Biden made yet another gaffe on Monday at a White House event to mark the festival of Diwali. Speaking at the event, he congratulated Rishi Sunak on becoming the new Prime Minister of the UK. During his speech on Monday, the US President stumbled over Mr Sunak's name, calling him "Rashee Sanook". The video of Mr Biden's blunder is now going viral. Mr Sunak was today formally appointed Britain's Prime Minister by King Charles III. The Indian-origin leader is the youngest to hold the UK's top post in 200 years.
"We've got news that Rashee Sanook is now the prime minister," Mr Biden said. "As my brother would say 'go figure'," he added.
The Biden halfwit congratulates Rashid Sanook on becoming Prime Minister pic.twitter.com/EGqXrwSFix
— Will (@WMcHBg) October 25, 2022
In the same speech, he called it a "ground-breaking milestone".
Mr Biden created history in 2020 when he selected Indian-origin Kamala Harris as his running mate. Ms Harris is now the US vice president and the second-most powerful person in the country after him. She is the first-ever India-origin person to be elected for the post.
Mr Sunak is Britain's third Prime Minister this year, after Liz Truss left office just 49 days into her term.
Mr Sunak's parents - retired doctor Yashvir and pharmacist Usha Sunak - are of Indian descent and had migrated from Kenya to the UK in the 1960s. He is married to Infosys co-founder Narayan Murthy's daughter Akshata Murthy. They have two daughters. Mr Sunak was born in Southampton.
His grandparents originated from British India but their birthplace Gujranwala lies in modern day Pakistan's Punjab province.
As the third UK premier in the space of just seven weeks, the road ahead is anything but smooth for the new leader, who faces the uphill task of rescuing an economy in turmoil and uniting a deeply divided Conservative Party.
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