Joe Biden gave one of his most bizarre and bumbling speeches in Connecticut on Friday night when he told his audience, “God save the Queen, man”, referred to being 110 years old and quoted a line from what he incorrectly claimed to be an old John Wayne movie.
And as he left the stage, he seemed unsure in which direction to go, forcing an aide to rush on stage to guide him. However, just as the aide went to grab his arm, the President picked up speed and jogged away ahead of him.
The line “don’t make me a dog-faced lying pony soldier”, which he has quoted before, was used during part of his speech to an audience that included some young activists who called out “Nooooo!” when he asked his aides if he was off to Greenwich, Connecticut.
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He told them: “That’s the truth, now don’t make a lie… As that scene in the John Wayne movie, ‘don’t make me a dog-faced lying pony soldier’.” However, it seemed his memory deserted him once again, as that line does not appear in any John Wayne film.
He was probably thinking of a 1952 Western starring Tyrone Power, called Pony Soldier. But again that line does not appear in that form in the movie — the closest being spoken by a Native American, who tells Power’s character: “The pony soldier speaks with a tongue of the snake that rattles.”
Mr Biden’s visit to West Hartford, Connecticut, was intended to headline the National Safety Communities Summit, a gun control event where he was introduced by Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy. However, he rounded off the speech with the bizarre reference to Queen Elizabeth II — nine months after he attended her funeral — and then appeared confused as to which way off the stage he was supposed to step.
Biden had earlier spoken of his “disgust” that there were victims of gun violence “every damn day in America” as he urged a ban on AR-15s and spoke of implementing other gun control measures.
He also encouraged a universal system for background checks on gun ownership. “‘A lot of you are tired. You’re tired. No, I get it. Try being 110 and doing it again,” he said, to laughter from the audience. “All kidding aside,” he added, “a lot of people are frustrated.”
He then went into a meandering spiel about the Violence Against Women Act, during which he called domestic violence the “ultimate abuse, abuse of power”.
At the end of the speech, Biden told the crowd that he couldn’t stick around due to an impending storm. “Is that right, is that still the deal?” he said, looking for confirmation from his aides. When some young activists called out to him, he quoted what he thought was the John Wayne pony soldier line and then told the group, “God save the Queen”, before heading offstage for photographs.
A pool reporter chronicling the trip sent out a note to other reporters saying he and other colleagues had no idea why the President had mentioned the Queen, who died last September.
The performance attracted a sackful of comments on social media.
Wojciech Terebka said: “She died… and he still wants to save her.” Another person wrote: “Biden… always with the little jog afterwards to show how ‘fit’ he is. We are not fooled,” — to which Leslie Colyar replied: “I think he thinks he’s Johnny Carson, imitating JC hand jestures after a joke and the jog to his desk after the monologue.”
An observer named Calvin commented: “If this were Donald Trump saying these things, the media and all the familiar faces on Twitter would be screaming for the 25th Amendment to be invoked.”
Clay Travis stated: “Joe Biden ended his remarks today calling for gun control by saying, ‘God save the Queen’. No one has any idea what he’s talking about. Seriously, how much longer can this keep going on?” Cheryl Schantz replied to this, saying: “Until his handlers decide enough is enough. Kamala needs to start speaking out. I can’t stand her, but she rightfully needs to be President.”
