In reality, Joe Biden finished his address to African leaders four minutes into the game, just in time to see Theo Hernandez’s goal.
He promised it, he did it: Joe Biden, aware that he was speaking shortly before the semi-final of the France-Morocco World Cup, sent his speech to the African leaders meeting at the Washington summit to go and see the match with the Moroccan Prime Minister.
The American president, in front of about fifty heads of state including that of Liberia, former soccer star George Weah, whose son Tim plays for the American team, joked in the introduction: “I’m sure you say ‘Make it short Biden’, (…) there is a semi-final coming up.”
He also welcomed Morocco’s presence in this stage of the competition, the first for an African nation, prompting applause from the hall.
In fact, his speech lasted a long quarter of an hour, 17 minutes to be exact, and ended at 2.04 pm…. four minutes after kick-off and just in time for the lead for the 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 precinct where the discussions are taking place at 2.48pm, shortly after the break.
