Last week, Mr. Biden said the things he did about his uncle, Ambrose J. Finnegan, at a war memorial in Pennsylvania.
In 1944, Mr. Finnegan—who had fought in the Army Air Corps during World War II—was a passenger in an aircraft accident in Papua New Guinea.
Referring to the nation’s largest island, Mr. Biden stated, “They never found the body because there used to be – there were a lot of cannibals for real in that part of New Guinea.”
Prime Minister James Marape asserted that Mr. Biden “seemed to imply his uncle was eaten by cannibals” in a statement issued on Sunday.
“President Biden’s remarks may have been a slip of the tongue; however, my country does not deserve to be labelled as such,” stated Marape.
