President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he wanted to change his last name to sound more Polish with a “ski” ending when he was younger on account of growing up in a Polish community.
“I was born in a coal town of Scranton, Pennsylvania … When coal died, we moved down to Delaware, to a town called Claymont, Delaware, which was a working-class town … everybody in town was either Polish or Italian,” Biden said. “I grew up feeling self-conscious my name didn’t end in an ‘s-k-i’ or an ‘o.'”
“All kidding aside,” Polish Americans feel “pride” for how much Poland is helping Ukraine, Biden added.
The president made the remarks while speaking with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw, Poland, to commemorate the near one-year anniversary of Russia’s war on Ukraine. The two leaders spoke about bolstering U.S.-Polish relations and their commitment to NATO and Ukraine. (RELATED: Biden Says US Does ‘Not Seek To Control Or Destroy’ Russia During Speech In Poland)
Poland allowed nearly 10 million Ukrainians to cross the Polish-Ukrainian border to flee the war, and is one of the leading countries supplying Ukraine with military aid.
Biden made a surprise trip to Ukraine on Monday to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about America’s continued support. He rode into Kyiv via a 10-hour train ride, and spent approximately four hours speaking with Zelenskyy and walking around the capital.
The president then delivered remarks to thousands in Warsaw on Tuesday after meeting with Duda. He reiterated America’s commitment to Ukraine, condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin, and called for a strong democratic coalition to battle autocracy.
Biden first made the trip to Poland in March of 2022 about a month after the start of the war to speak to Duda and visit U.S. troops stationed in the country.