It is safe to say that the former president of the United States is not afraid of “sticking his foot in it.” Now, Donald Trump has mocked current US president Joe Biden for sitting next to the leaders of “third-world countries” during the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, despite actually sitting next to Swiss president Ignazio Cassis.
“This is what America has become in just two years. No respect!” noted the former president on his own social media platform Truth Social. He was mocking the fact that the US president, Joe Biden, was seated in the 14th row of Westminster Abbey during the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
He went on: "Anyway, a good opportunity for our president to get to know the leaders of some third-world countries", claiming that if he were still president, they wouldn’t have dared place him so far back. This was echoed by a former panellist on the American show The View, Meghan McCain, who said, “Just curious why our President and First Lady were basically in the nose bleed section of the Queen's funeral.”
Unfortunately, one seat over from the president - sat next to his wife Jill - was Ignazio Cassis, the president of Switzerland. If the former president’s logic were to be followed, then Poland, Czechia, France and Switzerland would all be “third-world countries.”
"Donald Trump's comment on the Queen's funeral: He would have sat further up than Joe Biden. And not with leaders of third world countries…. Should we take this personally?" Noted SRF’s US correspondent Viviane Manz.
The internet was similarly blunt, with one Twitter user saying cynically, “Switzerland is a third-world country. So much honour from Trump is not to be despised.” Others claimed that Donald Trump would probably not have been invited, even if he was still the president.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the reason why Biden and Cassis were seated so far from the front was simply down to precedent. On such an occasion, members of the royal family, past and present UK Prime Ministers and Commonwealth leaders take precedence. This is why Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, was seated nine rows in front of Biden.
When asked by 20 minuten, the Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), which is controlled directly by Cassis, said it did not want to comment on Trump’s statement. The government said, "The placement of foreign dignitaries at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth on Monday in London fell within the purview of the British authorities." The FDFA said that Cassis and Biden were able to exchange a few words with each other, drawing "particular attention to the importance of the late Queen during her 70-year reign."