US President Joe Biden has tickled Egyptians by mistakenly calling Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi “the president of Mexico”.
“As you know, initially the president of Mexico, Sisi, did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in [Gaza],” President Biden said during a press conference on Thursday, while commenting on the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza.
Mexico’s president is called Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The irony is that Egyptians say they have long nicknamed President al-Sisi “El Meksiki”, which translates to “The Mexican” to avoid censorship.
“You can’t criticise the president freely so Egyptians started calling him ‘El Meksiki’ (‘the Mexican’ in Arabic) because it sounds like ‘al-Sisi’ so they can avoid censorship and criticise him freely,” one user explained on X (formerly Twitter).
In the US, the mix-up has sparked concerns about President Biden’s health and cognitive abilities, but the leader has defended his mental fitness for office.
Source:BBC
