President Joe Biden struggled to pronounce the name of one of the industry leaders he met with earlier in the day to discuss ways to address bottlenecks in the supply chain.
During remarks at the White House on Wednesday, Biden said, āToday we have an important announcement that will get things you buy to you, to the shelves faster.ā
āIām joined by the executive directors of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Gene Seroka,ā Biden said, adding, āAnd uh Marioā¦ Mario Cordonoā¦ā
He paused as he realized he mispronounced the second name, referring to Mario Cardero, who is the executive director of Long Beach port.
āI missā¦ I apologize, Mario,ā he added.
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As of Wednesday, 500,000 containers were waiting to get into the Los Angeles port. Reuters explains that the supply chain bottleneck isĀ ādriven in part by the global COVID-19 pandemic, as sales of durable goods jumped amid worker shortages and transportation hub slowdowns.ā
Earlier on Wednesday, Biden announced that the Port of Los Angeles, the busiest port in the country, would begin operating 24/7 in a bid to address the supply chain disruptions.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked if the administration could āguarantee that holiday packages will arrive in time.ā
āWe are not the Postal Service or UPS or FedEx. We cannot guarantee. What we can do is use every lever at the federal governmentās disposal to reduce delays,ā Psaki responded.
She added, āTo ensure that we are addressing bottlenecks in the system, including ports and the need for them to be open longer hours so that goods can arrive. And we can continue to press not only workers and unions but also companies to take as many steps as they can to address these delays.ā
Correction : Previously, this story inaccurately stated there were 500,000 container ships. We have corrected the error.