Joe Biden has muddled up Rishi Sunak’s name and mocked the political chaos in the UK, as the new prime minister moves into No 10.
The US president – who previously attacked Liz Truss’s “trickle-down economics” – made fun of yet another change in leadership, as he welcomed the “milestone” of a Hindu prime minister.
“Just today, we’ve got news that Rashi Sunook [as he pronounced the name] is now the prime minister,” Mr Biden said at an event in Washington, adding, with a grin: “As my brother would say, ‘Go figure!’”
The remark reflects the unprecedented chaos that has seen Ms Truss forced out after just 49 days in power – making her the shortest-serving prime minister in history.
Her disastrous mini-budget, built on the sand of massive unfunded tax cuts, crashed the financial markets and shredded public trust, triggering her rejection by Tory MPs.
Mr Sunak takes over with most of his party eager to unite around yet another new leader – but facing the poisoned inheritance of announcing huge spending cuts, and tax rises potentially, within days.
In Washington, Mr Biden said “it matters” that, for the first time, a person of colour, who is also the child of Indian immigrants, could rise to the highest political office in a country.
The president said: “And the Conservative Party, expected to become the prime minister, I think, tomorrow when he goes to see the King.
“Pretty astounding. A groundbreaking milestone. And it matters, it matters.”
Mr Sunak, the UK’s first non-white prime minister, is also a practising Hindu who won the Tory leadership on Diwali, a five-day “Festival of Lights” celebrated by Hindus and Sikhs.
His grandparents were from Punjab state. His family settled in the UK in the 1960s and the future prime minister was born in Southampton in 1980.
Mr Sunak moves into No 10 after an unrepentant Ms Truss urged her successor not to ditch her discredited dream of low taxes and a dash for growth.
“We simply cannot afford to be a low growth country where the government takes up an increasing share of our national wealth,” she told her party, as she left Downing Street.
There was no contrition for the blunders during her short time in power – which have pushed up mortgage rates and set the UK on course for a return to austerity.
Instead, echoing Boris Johnson, Ms Truss quoted an ancient philosopher to ram home her credo that politicians should think the unthinkable.
As the Roman philosopher Seneca wrote: “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare. It is because we do not dare that they are difficult,” she said.
