(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The head of state of Papua New Guinea responded to President Joe Biden’s unproven suggestion that his World War II veteran uncle was eaten by “cannibals” after his plane crashed near the Pacific Ocean-based Island.
“President Biden’s remarks may have been a slip of the tongue; however, my country does not deserve to be labeled as such,” said Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape in a statement Monday, according to the Associated Press.
Marape’s response referred to Biden’s repeated claims that his uncle Ambrose Finnegan may have fallen victim to cannibals when his plane crashed on May 14, 1944.
“He got shot down in an area where there were a lot of cannibals at the time,” Biden told reporters gathered outside a WWII memorial in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
“They never recovered his body, but the government went back when I went down there and they checked and found some parts of the plane,” Biden added.
Biden’s got a new story about Uncle Bosey being shot down and eaten by cannibals…
No one believes this shit, right? pic.twitter.com/iBSwrlUrOn
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) April 17, 2024
The 81-year-old president repeated these claims while addressing members of the United Steelworkers union in Pennsylvania, where he campaigned ahead of the state’s primary election.
“He got 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,” Biden said.
Biden, for the third time in less than 24 hours, tells the dubious story about his “Uncle Bosey” and “a lot of cannibals” in New Guinea before repeating the debunked “suckers and losers” hoax.
He also claims D-Day was on a Sunday (it was on a Tuesday).
HE IS NOT WELL. pic.twitter.com/iqeOjjFY0v
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 17, 2024
Despite these assertions, there is no evidence to suggest that Finnegan fell victim to cannibals.
In fact, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the federal body that gathers information on prisoners of war and other missing-in-action service members, said that Finnegan passed away after the plane was forced to ditch into the ocean. His body was never recovered.
“Both engines failed at low altitude, and the aircraft’s nose hit the water hard,” the federal agency said. “Three men failed to emerge from the sinking wreck and were lost in the crash. One crew member survived and was rescued by a passing barge. An aerial search the next day found no trace of the missing aircraft or the lost crew members.”
Biden’s controversial claims came as he faces scorching criticism for making incoherent remarks, committing countless gaffes and stumbling over his own words.
It’s unclear whether the White House is preparing to apologize to Papua New Guinea. The press office in the Papua New Guinea Parliament referred Headline USA to the Prime Minister’s Office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Doocy: “And I agree. Second Lieutenant Ambrose Jake Finnegan was a war hero. But the Pentagon says, for unknown reasons, the plane was forced to ditch in the ocean and both engines failed at low out — altitude. Why is President Biden saying he was shot down? There’s no evidence… pic.twitter.com/MinnEzrk07
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 19, 2024
