US Edition
Joe Biden gave up trying to pronounce a tech company’s name after stumbling at a speech to CEOs on Thursday.
The US president addressed chief executives at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, where he attempted to read a list of tech companies from a teleprompter.
His speech was cut off as he tried to pronounce the name of a company, before giving up and admitting: “It’s better to not try.”
“Here in this world, this world-renowned hub of innovation, so many tech companies like Anthropic and…I’m gonna mispronounce,” he said.
“I’m not going to even try. It’s better to not try, and not mispronounce, than try and mispronounce.”
Members of the audience laughed as Mr Biden smiled and continued with his speech.
“The point is, small and medium-sized businesses and start-ups are getting into action as well.”
Mr Biden, who had a speech impediment as a child, has become famous for trip-ups and gaffes in his speeches.
President plays down inflation rise
In his address to the summit on Thursday, the president acknowledged the US’s recent inflation figures, which show prices rose by 3.2 per cent in the year to October – the smallest annual increase since June.
“Unemployment has been under 4 per cent for 21 straight months, inflation has come down by 65 per cent,” he said.
“There is more to do. We now have the lowest inflation rate of any advanced economy in the world. Meanwhile, median household wealth has grown by 37 per cent in real terms, since before the pandemic.”
He added that he acknowledged a “disconnect between the numbers and how people feel about their place in the world right now”, but said: “We can deal with the second part as well.”
The Apec summit has seen Mr Biden meet with Xi Jinping, the Chinese premier, for the first time in a year.
At their bilateral meeting on Wednesday, the pair agreed to resume military-to-military communication and Mr Xi pledged to crack down on companies producing the ingredients of fentanyl, which are shipped to Latin America before being imported into the US.
China relationship ‘not all Kumbaya’
On Thursday Mr Biden said the US’s relationship with China was “not all Kumbaya” and highlighted economic and national security concerns.
“It’s not all, as my generation would say back in the day, it’s not all Kumbaya, but it’s straightforward, straightforward,” he said.
“We have real differences with Beijing when it comes to maintaining a fair level economic playing field and protecting your intellectual property.
“We’re going to continue to address them with smart policies and strong diplomacy. We have also taken targeted action to protect our vital national security interest.”
The speech comes after the president described Mr Xi as a “dictator”, and was rebuffed by the Chinese foreign ministry just hours after the bilateral meeting to promote cooperation between the two countries.