Special Correspondent
Washington
Democratic Presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden used a phrase that could hardly be expected to be heard in a nationally televised American debate: Inshallah. He did so during Tuesday night’s chaotic first presidential debate that is all too familiar to speakers of the Arabic language and Muslim households. Biden used the word, meaning ‘God willing’ in Arabic and Farsi, as Republican President Donald Trump hedged on saying when he would release his tax returns. “Millions of dollars and you’ll get to see it,” Trump said of the amount he claims to have paid, according to The Washington Post.
“When?” the Democratic presidential candidate interjected. “Inshallah?”
The use of one of the most ubiquitous phrases in Arabic by Biden, 77, a Roman Catholic, raised eyebrows in the Mideast and migrant communities, with many debating the contextual meaning of the phrase.— AP
