US President Joe Biden mispronounced the name of the new Prime Minister of Britian, Rishi Sunak, as he extended his wishes to the Indian-origin Tory leader during a Diwali celebration at the White House on Monday.
Biden stumbled during his speech and seemed to mispronounce the new prime minister’s name as “Rashi Sunook” as reporters broke down in laughter, while the 79-year-old President continued his address in a rather jolly mood.
Biden expressed amazement that Sunak is a member of the Conservative party and called his ascent to power a “groundbreaking milestone”.
Sunak’s name was similarly mispronounced by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who afterwards corrected herself.
Sunak, the third British prime minister this year, succeeds Liz Truss, who held the record for the shortest tenure as the UK PM with only 45 days in office.
“Congratulations to Rishi Sunak on becoming Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Together, I look forward to enhancing our cooperation on issues critical to global security and prosperity, including continuing our strong support for Ukraine,” Biden tweeted on Tuesday as Sunak made his first address outside 10 Downing Street.
Sunak, 42, won the race to lead the Conservative Party on Monday and was sworn in as the country’s first prime minister of Indian descent on Tuesday.
Biden had earlier said, “It’s fairly astonishing, a groundbreaking milestone and it matters,” in reference to Sunak becoming the British Prime Minister, during the Diwali ceremony.
