(AFP) — Joe Biden on Friday left Americans scratching their heads with an off-the-cuff remark that was, well, royally unusual for a US president: “God save the queen, man!”
What he meant, which queen he was referring to, and why he threw in what sounded like the traditional patriotic British cry, no one could immediately tell.
Queen Elizabeth II, whom Biden met, died in September 2022 and was replaced by a king — her son Charles.
Biden had just completed an impassioned speech at the National Safer Communities Summit in Connecticut on getting Congress to toughen gun ownership laws when he made the remark from the stage.
BIDEN: “God save the Queen!”
He’s in Connecticut. And the Queen is dead…
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 16, 2023
The pool journalist responsible for following the president all day on his travels couldn’t help. He messaged the worldwide group of outlets receiving pool reports: “Several of you have asked me why he might have said that. I have no idea.”
That the president tacked on a classic down-to-earth Bidenism — “man” — didn’t help either.
Later, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton somewhat cleared up the mystery, telling reporters that Biden had been “commenting to someone in the crowd.”
The queen of Connecticut, however, was not immediately identified.