President Biden received a standing ovation after telling\u00a0Irish leaders\u00a0he wanted to “lick the world” with them during a banquet at Dublin Castle on Thursday evening.
“There\u2019s nothing, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart \u2014 there\u2019s nothing our nations can\u2019t achieve if we do it together.\u00a0I really mean it,” the president told a large group at dinner.\u00a0
“So, thank you all.\u00a0God bless you all.\u00a0And let\u2019s go \u2014 let\u2019s go la- \u2014 lick the world.\u00a0Let\u2019s get it done.\u00a0Thank you,”\u00a0Biden said, according to the White House’s transcription of the speech.
The remark was followed by applause and a standing ovation from the crowd.
According to the Cambridge online dictionary, an alternate definition of “licking” includes “to defeat easily in a competition, fight, etc.” However, Biden’s comment was interpreted differently by online users.
Twitter users\u00a0were perplexed after the unusual comment, posting “huh” and “what” on videos of the speech circulating online.
“The gift that just keeps giving,” several users wrote.
\u00a0“How is this real?” one commented.
The dinner took place just hours after a video of\u00a0Biden getting barked at\u00a0by the president of Ireland’s dog, Misneach, also made its rounds
The president’s latest gaffe came just days after he accidentally mixed up the All Blacks, a New Zealand rugby team, with\u00a0the Black and Tans, a British police force group known for its brutal occupation of Ireland in the 1920s.
“This was given to me by one of these guys, right here,” Biden said at the Windsor Bar in Dundalk on Wednesday, referring to the tie he was wearing. “He was a hell of a rugby player. He beat the hell out of the Black and Tans.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n