President Joe Biden capped a historically panned debate performance by insulting former President Donald Trump using a line from a movie that does not appear to exist.
Biden made his remarks in a brief post-debate rally before a small crowd of supporters with his wife Jill Biden introducing him and rallying the sparse crowd.
WATCH — CNN’s Chris Wallace: Biden “Can’t Come Back from That” Debate Performance:
“You did such a great job, you answered every question,” she told her husband before handing him the microphone.
Then things got strange.
“There’s a famous movie by John Wayne and, and he’s working for the, ugh, the northern military trying to get the Apaches back on the reservation,” Biden told the cluster of fans. “They were lying like hell to him. And they’re all sitting on a bluff. And John Wayne was sitting with two Indian, [mumbles] Apaches. And one of them looked at John Wayne and said, ‘these guys are nothing but lying dog-faced pony soldiers.’ Except he’s just a liar!”
Biden has used the dated insult for many years, including when insulting a voter at an event in New Hampshire in 2020.
But the line does not appear to be from a John Wayne movie, certainly not a “famous” one, despite claims from Biden and his team.
WATCH — Trump: “I Don’t Think He Knows What He Said Either”:
A Slate article from 2020 sought to determine whether or not the line is from a Wayne movie:
The answer is a resounding “maybe.” Wayne appeared in 180 movies over 50 years, and who knows what they called him in all of them? But it seems at least as likely that Biden is thinking of a different film: Pony Soldier, a 1952 Western from director Joseph M. Newman starring Tyrone Power as a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “Pony Soldier,” in the context of the film, is a Native American nickname for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and although no one calls Power a “lying, dog-faced pony soldier,” a chief does say, “The pony soldier speaks with a tongue of the snake that rattles,” which isn’t far off.
Not all of Wayne’s films have survived, but it appears the commander-in-chief has his wires crossed. Regardless, the bizarre line is yet another moment in a night which Biden would likely love to forget.
Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.