A new book “Plagued“, by journalists Simon Benson and Geoff Chalmers details Australia’s political history during the pandemic. In the book, the duo document former Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s handling of the pandemic including meetings with former president Donald Trump and current president Joe Biden.
During a 2021 press conference to announce the AUKUS defence pact between Australia, the US and the UK, Joe Biden called Morrison ‘that fella Down Under’.
This was widely interpreted by Morrison and his staff as showing Biden had forgotten the prime minister’s name.
The book, which seems to have very close and candid access to recollections and records kept by Morrison and those around him, paints a somewhat worrying picture of Biden being directed by staff at another G7 meeting.
At another G7 meeting, the book stated ‘Biden’s handlers kept him under wraps… limiting his contact with leader’.
‘He was late to functions, often left early and was kept away from press conferences to avoid embarrassing slip-ups.’
