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Joe Biden's tense exchange with reporter on attending Pope Benedict's funeral
Joe Biden On Pope Benedict's Funeral: Almost 100,000 people are expected to would attend the funeral, higher than an original estimate of 60,000.
US president Joe Biden had an awkward interaction with a reporter when the latter asked him whether we would attend the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI. Mourners poured into St. Peter’s Square to pay final respects to the Pope. Almost 100,000 people are expected to would attend the funeral, higher than an original estimate of 60,000, reports have said.
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Although, Joe Biden will not be able to attend the funeral, he informed in an exchange with EWTN's Owen Jensen.
The reporter asked Joe Biden, "You're not attending his funeral tomorrow though, why?"
"Well, why do you think?" Joe Biden responded quickly.
"Well, you tell me," the reported enquired to which Joe Biden responded, "You know why," and then the reporter asked again, "You can tell me."
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“The reason I'm not attending the funeral tomorrow is it would take an entourage of a thousand people to show up. We would move everything in the wrong direction,” Joe Biden said adding, "We would just get in the way."
Earlier, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that US ambassador Joe Donnelly would be representing the country at the funeral.
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"The US Ambassador to the Holy See, Joe Donnelly, will represent the United States at the funeral of the pope, in line with the wishes of the late pope and the Vatican. This is what - this is what their requests were. This is what their wishes were. And so, that's what you're seeing from the US," Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Pope Benedict died on Saturday aged 95.
