# The Democratic president of the United States of America, the guy who ran against Donald Trump and just launched his campaign to do so again, just called someone "an illegal" in the State of the Union address **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 8, 2024, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607 "2024-03-08T13:24:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607/221 "2024-03-20T14:38:53Z")
Old man has embarrassing slip of tongue, then apologizes. Not a big deal. SDMB poster mentions old man having embarrassing slip of tongue, is pilloried for “bothsidesism”. Apparently the new Democratic party line is that any facts even mildly inconvenient to Biden must be rigorously denied. These are the same people who think the NY Times obviously supports Trump, because it reports on polls showing Biden doing poorly. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607/222 "2024-03-20T18:22:04Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > SDMB poster mentions old man having embarrassing slip of tongue, is pilloried for “bothsidesism”. I think the OP was “pilloried” because it was really fucking unclear what his point was. Like I origianlly said, based on the link to the ATMB thread, I didn’t get the sense he was mad at _Biden_, I got the sense he was mad at _the board_ for moderating usage of the term that Biden says so it must be fine. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2024, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607/223 "2024-03-21T05:30:46Z")
I have to admit I thought it was funny that Biden said the, “Come to Jesus” thing. It just struck me as so ironic and ridiculous. It was sooo Biden. I get the offense, and I’m sorry he said it, though I don’t think he meant to be offensive, but you know Biden is gaffe prone. I’m not a christian … _anymore_ which I guess is the point. I will still use this phrase with my kids who are, as am I, Atheists. Perhaps a cultural thing? ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2024, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607/224 "2024-03-21T05:33:49Z")
Yeah, No. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2024, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607/225 "2024-03-21T06:18:49Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > SDMB poster mentions old man having embarrassing slip of tongue, is pilloried for “bothsidesism” SDMB poster called the old man a “scumbag and a racist” due to that “slip of tongue” and you’re okay with that? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607/226 "2024-04-24T16:29:23Z")
This is a bit off topic but not worth a new thread and has a similar theme of the current president putting his foot in his mouth with regard to sensitivity. Dear Mr. President, although it is undoubtedly the case that your uncle went down in New Guinea and his body was never found, it is highly unlikely that he was [eaten by Cannibals](https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/24/world/biden-cannibalism-papua-new-guinea-intl-hnk/index.html), and saying so promotes a bad stereotype, and may hurt US reputation and diplomacy in an area of the world over which China is attempting to gain influence. I understand that that is probably part of your family’s oral history and that it makes a great story but from now on please keep it to yourself. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2024, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607/227 "2024-04-24T16:34:29Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > This is a bit off topic but not worth a new thread Well, it was worth an FQ thread attempting to confirm the historical accuracy of the story. > [@Were there cannibals in Papua New Guinea in the 1940's?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-cannibals-in-papua-new-guinea-in-the-1940s/1000634): > > I see that our president is getting a good bit of grief for describing his accounts of his uncle, a flier who was shot down and never found, during WWII. He said that there were cannibals there at the time so… Ok, so what is the straight dope? But if you wanted a thread to pit the President, I suppose that wouldn’t have been the right one. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2024, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607/228 "2024-04-24T16:43:30Z")
The headline I saw yesterday was something like, “Papua New Guinea Ambassador offended after Biden suggests his uncle was eaten by cannibals,” and I thought it was the _ambassador’s_ uncle that was the topic, not Biden’s. So, could have been worse, I guess ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607/229 "2024-04-25T00:52:10Z")
Your mother was a hamster, your father smelt of elderberry, and your uncle was eaten by a cannibal. Classic insult. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607/230 "2024-04-25T04:11:32Z")
I’m pretty sure I heard Mr. Burns tell the same story. That’s probably where this came from. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607/231 "2024-04-25T04:21:14Z")
No, Mr. Burns covered up the death of Smithers’ father in a nuclear accident by telling young Waylon his dad was brutally murdered by savage women in the Amazon. We’ll never know if it had some psychological impact on him. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607/232 "2024-04-25T14:03:59Z")
The story is untrue but there is some relevant context. [The Fore people](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fore_people) of eastern PNG sometimes ritualistically consumed part of a recently-deceased family member as a funeral rites thing. It wasn’t for sustenance, and they weren’t chomping on random soldiers. But it was still happening in the 1950s; indeed this was around the time that this practice was found to be the transmission mechanism of a neurological disease. Hence part of the perception on which stories are built. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607/233 "2024-04-25T21:32:04Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > [The Fore people](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fore_people) of eastern PNG sometimes ritualistically consumed part of a recently-deceased family member as a funeral rites thing. It wasn’t for sustenance, and they weren’t chomping on random soldiers. I remember learning about them in my Cultural Anthropology class in college. It was as you said; it was a ritualistic thing, sort of like a funerary rite. Very different from the idea of killing an invader to turn that person into a stew. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607/234 "2024-04-25T21:34:39Z")
Yes, it was included in a monograph I had to read for a class in uni called “One Man’s Meat is Another Man’s Person.” ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607/235 "2024-04-29T15:38:10Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > this was around the time that this practice was found to be the transmission mechanism of a neurological disease. That would be [kuru](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_(disease)), basically mad cow disease only in humans. Nasty business. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607/236 "2024-04-29T15:55:01Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > That would be [kuru](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_(disease)), basically mad cow disease only in humans. Well humans can get mad cow disease (CJD), but I get what you mean. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607/237 "2024-04-29T16:45:37Z")
Denny Crane: “I’m sorry your honor. I have mad cow disease. I think you do too.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-guy-who-ran-against-donald-trump-and-just-launched-his-campaign-to-do-so-again-just-called-someone-an-illegal-in-the-state-of-the-union-address/998607.md?page=11)