This is hard to watch.
President Joe Biden was hailed with a botched rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” during a visit to the Palestinian territories on Friday.
Biden stood by with his hand placed on his heart during the recital.
Unfortunately, many middle school bands could probably deliver a sharper performance of the American national anthem.
Palestinian Authority butchers the American national anthem during Biden9;s visit pic.twitter.com/48sCD2eMo8
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 15, 2022
The president heard the rendition with Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority.
After the performance ended, the band proceeded to play the Palestinian national anthem.
The Palestinian Authority’s official band also played the “Star-Spangled Banner” for former President Donald Trump during his visit to the territory in 2017.
While that performance was far from perfect, it was noticeably better than the rendition that Biden received.
The Palestinian band’s struggle to play the “Star-Spangled Banner” is far from unique, though.
The Egyptian military band is notorious for blasting out butchered performances of national anthems.
These nations don’t have the same musical tradition as countries in the Western world. Musical instruments themselves have long been considered sinful in Islam, although that view isn’t unanimous among Muslims.
Biden kicked off his Middle East trip with an embarrassing gaffe, accidentally using the word “honor” instead of “horror” to describe the memory of the Holocaust.
“Later today, I will once more return to the hallowed ground of Yad … Vashem to honor the 6 million Jewish lives that were stolen in a genocide and continue … to keep alive the truth and honor of the Holocaust,” he said, quickly correcting himself by saying, “Horror of the Holocaust — honor those we lost so that we never, ever, ever forget that lesson.”
Biden also compared his own Irish Catholic ancestry with the experiences of Palestinians in a remark that raised eyebrows.
BIDEN in East Jerusalem: “…the background of my family is Irish American and we have a long history not fundamentally unlike the Palestinian people, with Great Britain and their attitude toward Irish Catholics over the years for 400 years.” pic.twitter.com/stj17lgSvv
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 15, 2022
Biden did express his support for Trump’s Abraham Accords during the trip, backing agreements that normalize relations between Arab nations and Israel, according to The Hill.
Biden is slated to fly from Israel to Saudi Arabia on Friday. It’s expected that he’ll lobby the leaders of the Islamist dictatorship to buff their energy production as Americans face exorbitant gas prices.
