Was uncle eaten?
Biden serves up cannibal legend to audience
April 19, 2024, 12:04 a.m
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US President Biden disturbs his audience during a campaign appearance with a slightly creepy anecdote: his uncle, who served in the US Army, may have fallen victim to cannibals. However, research shows that the story is not plausible.
US President Joe Biden caused a stir with an anecdote about an uncle who was possibly eaten by cannibals during World War II. “He was shot down over New Guinea and his body was never found because there were really a lot of cannibals in that part of New Guinea,” Biden told steel workers at a campaign appearance in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. However, the story soon turned out to be a legend.
Biden also told journalists the anecdote about the cannibals. The US President had previously paid honor to his uncle Ambrose J. Finnegan during a visit to a war memorial in his hometown of Scranton. He died as a second lieutenant in the US Army in 1944, when Biden was still a toddler. However, it is extremely unlikely that his remains could have been eaten, as research into Biden’s statements showed.
The Pentagon’s DPAA agency, which is responsible for investigating prisoners of war and missing soldiers, said that the plane with Biden’s uncle Ambrose Finnegan on board made an emergency landing in the water off the coast of the island in 1944 “for unknown reasons” on a courier flight to New Guinea must. It was also said that the plane hit the sea surface hard and three crew members did not surface. A reconnaissance flight the next day discovered no trace of the missing aircraft or crew members.
Biden spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed that Biden’s uncle died when his plane crashed off New Guinea. Biden highlighted his uncle’s story because he wanted to underline his support for US military veterans. He wanted to distance himself from ex-president and designated Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who is said to have insulted US soldiers killed in combat as “losers” and “idiots”.