He had promised it, he did it: Joe Biden, aware of speaking just before the semi-final of the France-Morocco World Cup, sent his speech to the African leaders gathered at the summit in Washington to watch the game with the Moroccan Prime Minister.
The American president, in front of about fifty Heads of State including that of Liberia, the former football star George Weah, whose son Tim plays for the American team, joked in introduction: “I am sure that you you say + Make it short Biden +, (…) there is a semi-final coming up.
He also welcomed the presence of Morocco at this stage of the competition, a first for an African nation, causing applause in the room. In fact, his speech lasted a long quarter of an hour, 17 minutes to be precise, and ended at 2:04 p.m. (7:04 p.m. GMT)… four minutes after kick-off and just in time for the opener for France by Théo Hernandez.
He then watched the first half with Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch and other leaders attending the summit, the White House confirmed. He left the enclosure where the discussions are taking place at 2:48 p.m., just after half-time.*
Later in a tweet, the American President said, “it was great honour to watch today’s world cup match alongside the Prime Minister Akhannouch of Morocco.
No matter who you’re rooting for, it was remarkable to watch how much this team has been
able to achieve.”
