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Joe Biden got Britney Spears muddled up with Taylor Swift in his latest gaffe in front of reporters.

The US president, who turned 81 today, was in the middle of pardoning two turkeys – Liberty and Bell – in the White House’s annual ceremony before the Thanksgiving holiday when he used the name Britney in an apparent reference to Taylor Swift’s current overseas tour.

Mr Biden said: “Just to get here, Liberty and Bell had to beat some tough odds and competition. They had to work hard, to show patience, and be willing to travel over 1,000 miles.

“You could say it’s even harder than getting a ticket to the Renaissance tour or, or Britney’s tour. She’s down, it’s kind of warm in Brazil right now.”

President Joe Biden speaks after pardoning the national Thanksgiving turkey, Liberty. Pic: AP
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President Joe Biden speaks after pardoning Liberty the turkey. Pic: AP

Spears is not currently on tour, nor is Beyonce who finished her Renaissance tour in October. However, Swift is in the middle of a string of international dates, and she postponed her concert in Rio on Saturday due to extreme heat.

A day earlier, a 23-year-old fan had died at the singer’s first Eras Tour show in the Brazilian city.

Swift said in a post on Instagram she was devastated by the death – the cause has not been confirmed.

Saturday’s concert was rescheduled for Monday.

Taylor Swift performs at the Monumental stadium during her Eras Tour concert in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
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Taylor Swift. Pic: AP

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Taylor Swift fans queue in ‘extreme temperatures’

Also speaking at the same White House ceremony, Mr Biden joked about his age, saying: “As much of you know, it’s difficult turning 60.

“This is the 76th anniversary of this event. I want you to know I wasn’t there, and I was too young to make it up.”

The White House did not immediately respond to request for a comment by Sky News’ partner network NBC News on Mr Biden’s apparent mix-up, which comes as voters express concerns in polling about his age.

In June, the president made a comment about Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s “war in Iraq”, which led to him being mocked online.

Mr Biden said at the time there were clear signs Mr Putin was losing his grip on power amid the conflict in Ukraine.

He told reporters: “It’s hard to tell, but [Putin is] clearly losing the war in Iraq, and he’s losing the war at home.”

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Biden mistakes Ukraine for Iraq

In September, Mr Biden mistakenly praised the “Congressional Black Caucus” while addressing the Congressional Hispanic Caucus at the group’s annual gala in Washington DC.

He made the error while noting the group shares qualities with gala award recipient Sister Norma Pimental, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley.

“I know Sister Norma lives the lessons nuns taught me growing up. Lessons based on the Gospel of Matthew: feed the hungry, care for the sick, welcome strangers,” he said.

“They echo what my dad taught me, and I mean this sincerely, my dad used to say, ‘Everyone, everyone is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect.’ The Congressional Black Caucus embodies all those values.”

And in April, during a visit to Ireland, the US president praised former Irish rugby international Rob Kearney who he said was “a hell of a rugby player, and beat the Black and Tans”.

By doing so, Mr Biden confused New Zealand’s famous team, the All Blacks, with the reviled British paramilitary force the Black and Tans, who brutally repressed opponents of British rule during the Irish War of Independence.

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Biden makes ‘Black and Tans’ gaffe

Most infamously, the force massacred 14 people and wounded 60 more at a Gaelic football match at Croke Park in Dublin in 1920.

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Ahead of the 2024 election, Democrat Mr Biden is currently trailing former Republican president Donald Trump, 77, among young voters ages 18 to 34, with 46% of them supporting Mr Trump and 42% Mr Biden, according to NBC News’ latest poll.

The disparity is significant compared to Mr Biden’s success among young voters in the 2020 presidential election, when he won over voters ages 18 to 29 by more than 20 points, according to the national exit poll.

Another NBC News poll in September found 59% of Americans had major concerns about Mr Biden having the necessary mental and physical health to be president for a second term.

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Trump posts AI image of himself as pope on Truth Social

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Trump posts AI image of himself as pope on Truth Social

Donald Trump has posted an AI-generated image of himself dressed in papal regalia on his Truth Social platform – just 11 days after the death of Pope Francis.

Uploaded onto his account early on Saturday morning, it shows the US president with a large gold cross on a chain around his neck.

From there, it was published, without comment or explanation, on the White House X and Instagram accounts and, though it drew fierce criticism, it was liked more than 100,000 times.

It comes just a few days after the world leader joked that he’d like to be the pontiff.

Last week, he was asked by reporters on the White House lawn who he would like to succeed Francis and he replied: “I’d like to be Pope. That would be my number one choice.”

He went on to say that he did not have a preference, but there was a cardinal in New York who was “very good”.

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‘I’d like to be pope’

Mr Trump was quickly accused of mocking Pope Francis’s death, but, by noon, UK time, the post had been liked more than 58,000 times on Instagram.

User comments, however, were mostly negative, with one saying that the image “isn’t funny. It’s not satire. And it’s not harmless”.

Another simply called it “disgusting”, while other reactions included “disturbing”, “disrespectful” and “offensive”.

On X, where the picture was liked more than 78,000 times, a user commented that Mr Trump was “making a mockery of the pious”, while another judged it “not a wise decision”.

The conclave to select a new pontiff will begin on 7 May after the death of Francis, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Argentinian, who became pope in 2013, died on Easter Monday at the age of 88 due to a stroke and heart failure.

Last weekend, the president was criticised for wearing a non-traditional blue suit for Francis’s Vatican funeral and chewing gum during the ceremony.

However, his meeting in St Peter’s Basilica with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the outdoor mass got under way was dubbed “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy.

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and President Donald Trump, talk as they attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025.(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
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Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met in St Peter’s Basilica. Pic: Ukrainian Presidential Press Office

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Mr Trump’s own religious views have long been a matter of speculation.

He was raised as a Presbyterian and publicly identified with it for most of his adult life, before, in October 2020, he renounced it and said he now considered himself a non-denominational Christian.

Many have questioned the depth of his faith, but that hasn’t stopped him appealing to conservative Christians and the Christian right, particularly evangelicals, some of whom have helped him get elected twice.

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Earlier this year, Mr Trump shared a bizarre AI-generated video on his Truth Social platform showcasing what appeared to be a vision of Gaza under his proposed plan.

The footage showed the area transformed into a Middle Eastern paradise with exotic beaches, Dubai-style skyscrapers, luxury yachts and people partying – and featured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Elon Musk.

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Harvey Weinstein accuser breaks down in tears on witness stand – and swears at his lawyer

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Harvey Weinstein accuser breaks down in tears on witness stand - and swears at his lawyer

One of Harvey Weinstein’s accusers broke down in tears and swore on the witness stand as a sexual abuse trial continues.

Warning: This article contains references to sexual assault

Miriam Haley claims the former Hollywood mogul forced oral sex on her in July 2006.

The case is being retried after the appeals court overturned his conviction last year.

She was working as a production assistant at the time.

Weinstein has strenuously denied all allegations, and Ms Haley also testified at Weinstein’s initial trial.

Miriam Haley, an accuser testifying at Harvey Weinstein's rape trial, arrives to the courtroom after a break in New York, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
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Miriam Haley. AP file pic

Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan for his retrial on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 in New York.  (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)
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Harvey Weinstein on Wednesday as he appeared for his retrial. Pic: AP

The 48-year-old was testifying in a Manhattan court when Weinstein’s defence lawyer Jennifer Bonjean questioned her account of the incident.

In court, Ms Bonjean asked why Ms Haley would agree to Weinstein’s invitation to his apartment after testifying about his previous behaviour, including her alleging that he barged into her home.

Ms Haley then became emotional after being asked how her clothes came off before Weinstein allegedly pulled out a tampon and performed oral sex on her.

She said Weinstein took off her clothing, but she didn’t recall the details, before Ms Bonjean asked: “You removed your clothes, right?”

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Ms Haley then told jurors that Weinstein “was the one who raped me, not the other way around” – to which his lawyer said: “That is for the jury to decide.”

She then started crying and said: “No, it’s not for the jury to decide. It’s my experience. And he did that to me.”

Sky’s US partner network NBC News reported that Ms Haley said during the exchange: “Don’t tell me I wasn’t raped by that f*****g asshole.”

Judge Curtis Farber then halted questioning and sent jurors on a break. Ms Haley’s eyes were red and her face was glistening as she left the witness stand.

In February 2020, Weinstein was found guilty of sexually assaulting Ms Haley – along with raping former actor Jessica Mann in a New York hotel in 2013 – and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

His conviction for the two crimes was overturned in April after an appeals court ruled the trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against Weinstein based on allegations that weren’t part of the case.

After the appeal ruling, Weinstein was charged with raping one woman and forcing oral sex on two others.

Two of the charges are those he faced during the original trial, while the third – one of the charges of forcing oral sex on Kaja Sokola – was added last year.

Weinstein denies all allegations, and his lawyers argue his accusers had consensual sexual encounters.

Regardless of the outcome of the retrial, he will remain in prison over a 2022 conviction in Los Angeles for a separate count of rape. His lawyers are also appealing this sentence.

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Mike Waltz’s ‘Signalgate’ mistake weakened Trump – so why isn’t Pete Hegseth also getting fired?

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Mike Waltz's 'Signalgate' mistake weakened Trump - so why isn't Pete Hegseth also getting fired?

Timing’s everything for Donald Trump.  

The time for sacking Mike Waltz was, clearly, not before the 100-day milestone – the measure of his performance in office.

The national security adviser had his card marked from the day the ‘Signalgate’ scandal broke.

Trump latest: Waltz ‘leaving White House’ hours after TV appearance

In any other government, at any other time, political expediency would have demanded his immediate sacking.

To have shared sensitive military information on a group chat is a most reckless error of judgement.

Bad enough that the information reached the inbox of a US journalist – who knows who else might have accessed the information in what is a commercially available app? China, Russia? Iran, the very country that backs the Houthi rebels who were under attack?

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Initially, Donald Trump defended Waltz as a “good man” who had “learned a lesson”. The president will have known, though, that he’s a man who has fundamentally weakened him.

Waltz’s mistake put the lives of US service personnel at risk and called into question the credibility of his ultimate boss.

The emoji-laden group chat read like the stuff of excited youngsters breathlessly sharing gossip.

It was recklessness over responsibility at the heart of government, and it reflected on the commander-in-chief and his judgement in appointing Waltz in the first place.

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‘Nobody was texting war plans’ – Hegseth

To keep him in post for weeks following the scandal looked like an acceptance, of sorts, and it didn’t look good. If there are questions about the circumstances surrounding Waltz, there are, too, about Trump’s defence secretary, Pete Hegseth.

Hegseth was also part of the Signalgate group chat and more.

Separately, he shared messages on Signal with his wife and brother about military strikes. Both are involved with the Pentagon, but are nowhere near the security clearance typically required to access that kind of detail.

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If Waltz committed a sackable offence, why didn’t Hegseth?

It’s a question that won’t go away.

The answer, I suspect, is that Donald Trump invested considerable political capital in forcing Hegseth into position, in spite of strong opposition.

In a story that acknowledges weakness at the heart of government, Donald Trump has his limits.

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