ROYAL AIR FARCE
Joe Biden calls the Royal Air Force the ‘RFA’ in major blunder during first ever speech on British soil
JOE Biden called the Royal Air Force the 'RFA' in a major gaffe during his first-ever speech as President on British soil.
The embarrassing blunder came after the President declared that the US-UK alliance was the “strongest military and political alliance in the history of the world.”
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Mr Biden arrived at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk yesterday afternoon, before touching down in Newquay at midnight ahead of the G7 summit in Cornwall on Friday.
He addressed troops after touching down in Britain for his first historic overseas trip - but his speech was full of slips and gaffes.
Instead of referencing Britain's RAF, the 78-year-old said: "These partnerships have been hardened in the fire of war.
"Generations of Americans and service members fought them. Like the original Bloody Hundredth, and those RFA pilots."
And after running on stage, Biden began his speech by proclaiming "When I was 14..." before he became distracted by the standing crowd.
He gestured the large crowd to sit back down by saying "at ease" before joking "I keep forgetting I'm president".
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It came after the First Lady joked that her husband had to concentrate.
"Joe, pay attention," Jill Biden said.
During her address First Lady told the troops' families that they were as "crucial to our military as radar."
Jill Biden praised the military, praising its patriotism: "When you serve, your families serve too."
The President told military personnel at RAF Mildenhall: "This is my first overseas trip as President of the United States.
"I'm heading to the G7, then to the Nato ministerial and then to meet with Mr Putin to let him know what I want him to know.
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"At every point along the way we are going to make it clear that the United States is back and democracies of the world are standing together to tackle the toughest challenges and the issues that matter most to our future."
Biden told the cheering crowd he would stand for the rights of all people - as the US was founded on an "idea" that "all men and women are created equal."
"No nation can defeat us as long as we stick to our values," he said.
He also highlighted that the relationship between the US and UK is the “strongest military and political alliance in the history of the world”, before adding that it needed to be “modernised” to protect against past threats and new challenges.
The President also made clear that "co-ordinated multilateral action" is needed to tackle climate change ahead of the G7 summit beginning on Friday.
He said: "Over the next few days I'll be participating in meetings with many of our closest partners, the G7 in Cornwall, then off to Brussels and the Nato summit and the EU summit.
ROYAL AIR FARCE
"This diplomacy is essential because no single nation acting alone can meet all the challenges we face today because the world is changing."
Mr Biden added: "To tackle this century's most pressing challenges we have to do it together, we have to end Covid-19, not just at home but everywhere.
"There's no wall high enough to keep us safe from this pandemic or the next biological threat we face, and there will be others.
"It requires co-ordinated multilateral action, we must all commit to an ambitious climate action if we're going to prevent the worst impacts of climate change and global warming."
Joe Biden is set to visit three countries over eight days in his first overseas venture as the President.
Having succeeded Donald Trump in January, Mr Biden said the trip - which also takes in a Nato meeting and talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin - was aimed at smoothing relations with allies that had been strained under his predecessor.
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He told reporters the aim was "strengthening the alliance, making it clear to Putin and China that Europe and the United States are tight".
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Mr Biden has promised the meeting with the Prime Minister would "affirm the special relationship between our nations".
Downing Street said Boris is intending to foster a "close relationship" with Washington.
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