Tongue twisters US president gets his names wrong again

Joe Biden mispronounced the name of Emmanuel Macron as he welcomed him to the White House.

In a speech, the US president also referred to the Marquis de Lafayette, the French aristocrat from the War of Independence era, as “Marcus de Lafayette”.

The French president has been honoured with the first state visit of Mr Biden’s administration.

Speaking outside the White House, Mr Biden looked at Mr Macron, and pronounced his name “Macrone,” rhyming with “alone”.

In the same speech, he said: “From the spirit of Marcus de Lafayette who helped secure the success of our revolution...”

Later, an official White House transcript of Mr Biden’s remarks had “Marcus” crossed out with a line through it, and “Marquis” in brackets next to it.

Mr Biden later used the same “Macrone” pronunciation for the French leader in the Oval Office.

He and his wife Jill greeted Mr Macron and his wife Brigitte with hugs, kisses and broad smiles on Wednesday.

Last month, Mr Biden called Rishi Sunak “Rashi Sanook”.

Nick Allen