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Biden mixes up British PM Theresa May with Margaret Thatcher, who left office in 1990
Washington Examiner ^ | May 4, 2019 | Tony Harnden

Posted on 05/05/2019 11:36:12 AM PDT by billorites

Joe Biden flubbed the name of British Prime Minister Theresa May at a fundraiser Saturday night, calling her by former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's name.

Thatcher left office in 1990 and died in 2013. The mistake by Biden, 76, comes amid worries about his age after he slurred his words during his campaign announcement speech. Aides have shielded him from reporters. He leads early primary polls by a wide margin but the Democratic Party establishment has yet to swing behind him.

“Margaret Thatcher, um, excuse me, Margaret Thatcher — Freudian slip,” Biden said to laughter, according to a campaign pool report. “But I knew her too.” He then corrected himself by saying: “The Prime Minister of Great Britain Theresa May.” AD 00:11 / 00:29 Editorial Director Hugo Gurdon on the expanded Washington Examiner magazine Watch Full Screen to Skip Ads

Thatcher, who led the Conservative Party and was the first female British prime minister, served as prime minister during the 1988 U.S. election campaign. Biden made his first White House run then, but dropped out in late 1987 after backlash for plagiarizing a speech by Neil Kinnock, the U.K. Labour Party leader and a fierce critic of Thatcher.

Biden was speaking Saturday to about three dozen supporters at a $1,000-to-$2,800-per-person fundraiser in Columbia, S.C.

He used Thatcher’s name when telling the donors he had heard from 14 heads of state from around the world who’ve voiced concerns to him about President Trump. That list included Thatcher, he said, before correcting the “Freudian slip," saying he was referring to May. The U.K. head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, not the prime minister.

Biden was asked to assign a nickname to Trump and responded: “There are so many nicknames that I’m inclined to give this guy. We could just start with clown. When he says these ridiculous things he says, I mean this, I put my hand up and say, ‘Everybody knows who you are,’ because they do know.”

The former vice president said he wanted to run his campaign on a higher level. “The only place he [Trump] has any confidence is in the mud. The only thing he doesn’t know how to respond to is issues and specifics.”

At another point, Biden referred to Trump as a “no good SOB.”

Coincidentally, Thatcher became British prime minister exactly 40 years to the day before Biden was speaking. She entered Parliament in 1959 and was chosen as Conservative leader in 1975. She was first elected to Downing Street on May 4, 1979, and won reelection in 1983 and 1987 before being ousted by her own party after 11 years in office.

Biden’s citing of 14 foreign leaders who had supposedly expressed concerns about Trump is likely to be intensely scrutinized. Foreign leaders traditionally stay out of U.S. domestic politics.

He was vice president for two and a half months after Trump was elected in November 2016, and it is most likely that it was during this period — before Trump has been inaugurated — that he would have been speaking to foreign leaders. Any expressions of discomfort over Trump’s win would probably have been intended to have been private and prompt dismay that they have been used by him in an election campaign.

Biden told a South Carolina TV station it was fair to ask about his age. "All I say is watch me. Determine whether I have the energy or not to do it," he said. "But I have significant experience. I have learned a great deal. I have learned from the past.”


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Delaware; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: brexit; delaware; joebiden; joebiteme; margaretthatcher; theresamay; unitedkingdom
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To: canuck_conservative

We’ve got a fair amount of elitist types here in Columbia.

They’ll give the groper a pass.


21 posted on 05/05/2019 12:27:35 PM PDT by wally_bert (Disc jockeys are as interchangeable as spark plugs.)
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To: billorites

Now that is offensive!

It’s like mistaking James Buchanan for George Washington.


22 posted on 05/05/2019 12:34:24 PM PDT by VanDeKoik
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To: onedoug
> Couldn’t cop any feels eh? <

Biden is rather unique in that regard. Sometimes when he cops a feel, he feels cops.


23 posted on 05/05/2019 12:35:25 PM PDT by Leaning Right (I have already previewed or do not wish to preview this composition.)
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To: billorites

Stand up Margaret !


24 posted on 05/05/2019 12:42:35 PM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: HighSierra5

I liked dart better that would explain things


25 posted on 05/05/2019 12:43:14 PM PDT by Jarhead9297
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To: billorites

Speaking to a crowd of 36.


26 posted on 05/05/2019 12:44:56 PM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: billorites

One too many hair plugs.


27 posted on 05/05/2019 12:45:31 PM PDT by bgill (when you badmouth women, you are badmouthing your mama and the good women on FR)
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To: wally_bert

Biden probably spoke at one of our two black colleges here; that’s the usual venue for out of state liberals and guarantees a politically friendly audience.

Drove past the State House yesterday and Confederate flags were flying everywhere on the grounds and a huge Confederate flag was draped over the State House steps. Whichever group hosted this event timed it to needle ol’ Uncle Creepy, I am sure of that.

If Plugs actually saw it, his remarks would have included “Jim Crow is coming back!” and “They’s gonna put you all back in chains!”.


28 posted on 05/05/2019 12:50:12 PM PDT by elcid1970 (No matter how bad things get, it can only be worse in New Jersey!)
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To: billorites

Plugs is senile.


29 posted on 05/05/2019 12:58:29 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.)
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To: billorites

He also warned Leonid Brezhnez not to interfere in the 2020 election.


30 posted on 05/05/2019 1:01:43 PM PDT by GreenHornet
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To: billorites

It’s understandable; they used the same perfume.


31 posted on 05/05/2019 1:18:49 PM PDT by I-ambush (One foot in the grave, one foot on the pedal—I was born to rebel.)
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To: billorites

Joe, May is no Thatcher...Even I know that and I’m a teen...


32 posted on 05/05/2019 1:20:30 PM PDT by ConservaTeen (WFLA's Jack Harris: Brooklyn is missing their village idiot. Right you are, Jack.)
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To: billorites

33 posted on 05/05/2019 1:22:31 PM PDT by dead (Our next president is going to be sooooo boring.)
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To: billorites

As Dan Bongino said, “Biden’s the Teddy Ruxpin of gaffs.”


34 posted on 05/05/2019 1:54:19 PM PDT by ManHunter (You can run, but you'll only die tired... Army snipers: Reach out and touch someone)
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To: billorites


35 posted on 05/05/2019 1:59:41 PM PDT by Bon mots
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
"Plugs is senile."

The disease seems to be contagious.

How many times has Pelosi referred to Trump as "President Bush"?

36 posted on 05/05/2019 2:23:56 PM PDT by boop (If you come at the king, better throw away your scabbard.)
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To: boop

I’d hate to see Biden and Pelosi in an oatmeal eating contest. Lots of napkins needed.


37 posted on 05/05/2019 2:28:16 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.)
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To: JLAGRAYFOX
Joe Biden is not the man and never will be...he is both buffoon & moron...100%!!!

Time to put the corks on the forks...

FMCDH(BITS)

38 posted on 05/05/2019 2:37:48 PM PDT by nothingnew
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To: nothingnew
Time to put the corks on the forks...


39 posted on 05/05/2019 2:38:58 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Leaning Right

Can’t help but think that cop resembles WC Fields.


40 posted on 05/05/2019 3:17:30 PM PDT by onedoug
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