WASHINGTON — That's Joe Awag.
President Biden said Monday that White House aides told him he couldn't do what he wanted to do, but he was “going to do it anyway,” and he invited young women to join him on stage at an event honoring Gotham FC.
Biden, 81, made the shocking revelation at an event honoring the 2023 National Women's Soccer League champions before shaking hands with several elementary and middle school students on stage in the East Room.
“I thought when I became president I'd be able to do whatever I wanted, but my staff told me no matter what I did, I couldn't,” Biden said after entering the event holding hands with star athlete Ali Krieger, 40.
“But I'm going to do it anyway,” he added. “All you young women out there, all you young people, come forward and do this. Stand behind me. All right. Come on.”
After a moment, Biden added, “And our allies.”
Some of Biden's remarks to the children were inaudible, but he could be heard over a microphone asking some of them by name.
The president did not say why he banned such interactions from staff, but Republicans have in the past circulated footage of Biden touching and smelling children and adult women in public, appearing to make both parties uncomfortable, leading political opponents to call him “Creepy Joe.”
After a string of women came forward and described how Biden's unwanted touching had affected their lives, the future president vowed in April 2019 to be “more mindful of respecting personal space in the future.”
In fact, he has produced far fewer awkward video clips as president than he did when he served as vice president under Barack Obama.
Biden is due to travel to New York City on Monday afternoon to attend the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly, but he is becoming increasingly unhinged as he nears retirement after his Democratic colleagues forced him to give up his party's presidential nomination over concerns about his mental health.
Despite Biden's insistence that he would finish his term strong, he has spent much of his time on vacation, and first lady Jill Biden did more talking than the president during the public portion of Friday's Cabinet meeting.
