Under pressure over a series of gaffes, US 2020 presidential front-runner Joe Biden confused Guyana for the African nation of Ghana while speaking at a campaign event, according to a report in the Washington Examiner.
The report said that Biden, 76, joined Adam Sexton of WMUR in Manchester, New Hampshire, for a town hall in the network’s latest installment of Conversation with the Candidate, which aired on Thursday.
“Growing up as a child in Guyana, my grandfather used to tell us stories that God made the United States. He told us about the wonders and freedoms in this country. I live my life striving to be an American citizen and I’m proud to have achieved that goal,” Terrance Geenarain, stated. “As president what will you do so that future grandfathers share the stories of our great nation?”
“I have been to Ghana, I’ve been all through Africa and one of the things everybody has to remember is that we are — we have led the world not just by the example of power, but the power of our example,” Biden began, the report said.
“We have been that shining city on a hill for real,” he continued. “Every generation that’s come here, whether it was my great, great grandfather Owen Finnegan getting on a coffin ship in the Irish Sea in 1849, or you coming from Ghana, everybody who’s come had to have courage. It took real courage to decide I’m going to change everything that I know, and leave everything that is comfortable to me, and what I’m going to, is I’m going to take a risk”, Biden said.
While confusing Guyana with Ghana is a common mistake, Biden spent eight years in the White House as Vice President of the United States and was a senator for Delaware for 36 years.
Geenarain told Stabroek News via Facebook that Biden had later apologised for the mix-up.
“I did speak to him after the television event and he did apologise for the mix-up. But regardless my question was not specific to Guyana but was related to all immigrants”, Geenarain said.
Since entering the race months ago, Biden has consistently made mistakes while campaigning. Recently, he misspoke when retelling the story of a war hero, the dates of the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., while also claiming he was still vice president during the Majory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting despite him having been out of office.
