"Berliner" is also German slang for what we would call a jelly doughnut, so many non-Germans thought that he had made a mistake. The Germans, for whom the speech was intended, had no problem whatsoever understanding his meaning. Even in those days the MSM had an agenda... sadly.
If I went today to NYC and proclaimed that I was a New Yorker, only the idiots would think that I was claiming to be either a magazine or a Chrysler. :-)
It makes perfect sense to me, what he said. I don’t know German, but the concept is very clear.
I appreciate your response.
You are mistaken. The inclusion of the indefinite article “ein” totally changes the meaning.
Ich bin ein Berliner = I am a Berliner (jelly doughnut).
Ich bin Berliner = I am a Berliner (native of Berlin).
Although that is the kind of joke you would see in the New Yorker.