Former President Joe Biden found himself in an awkward situation as he made his way back toward the stage after the dedication of President Barack Obama’s presidential library on Thursday.
In a clip from the event, Biden took off his sunglasses and looked out at the audience while his wife, Jill Biden, and Obama left the stage, seemingly leaving him behind.
At one moment, he called out, “Where’s my granddaughter?”
A source familiar with the event indicated that he was searching for his granddaughter, who was in the crowd.
The incident occurred at the end of a highly publicized celebration for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, which featured appearances from Obama, Biden, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, and numerous entertainers and politicians.
This moment came amid renewed concerns regarding Biden’s health and his choice to run for a second term in 2024.
Recently, at a gathering in New York, Hillary Clinton referred to Biden’s re-election bid as a “terrible mistake,” suggesting that Democrats might be better positioned if there had been a competitive primary ahead of the 2024 election.
Clinton remarked, “It’s very sad, but I think anyone else who ran—whether vice president, governor, or senator—would have beaten Donald Trump. So, it seems like a huge miscalculation by President Biden.”
Biden faced a lot of pressure from Democratic leaders to withdraw from the race after a poor showing in his debate against Trump. Despite public calls for him to step down, he stayed in the race for over three weeks post-debate.
In a recent piece, Jill Biden expressed concern that her husband might have suffered a stroke and questioned whether he should have continued his re-election campaign after facing backlash for his June 2024 debate performance against Trump.
Additionally, Biden is currently involved in a legal dispute with the Justice Department regarding the release of audio from a meeting with former special counsel Robert Hur. This investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents has sparked more discussions about his age and mental acuity. In the recordings, Hur described Biden as a “well-meaning older man with a poor memory,” which has only intensified the debate about his cognitive fitness.
The 83-year-old former president is also battling stage 4 prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.
