He was having a typical elderly moment.
Just before donning Donald Trump's red hat at the 9/11 memorial on Wednesday, President Biden joked that he couldn't remember his name.
Biden, 81, made the joke, poking fun at himself, when he agreed to sign presidential seal hats for Trump supporters at an event honoring emergency workers in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The video footage shared on TikTok.
“Do you remember your name?” an older Trump fan wearing suspenders asked Biden.
“I don't remember my name,” the 80-year-old commander in chief replied, drawing laughter from the crowd.
“I'm slow,” he added.
“You're old,” the Trump supporter agreed, to which Biden replied, “I'm old too.”
“You know that,” the president retorted to the joker, who insisted he was still a “young man.”
Biden withdrew from the presidential race on July 21 after a disastrous debate defeat against former President Trump and after loyalists and Democratic Party officials questioned his mental health.
“He reminds me of the guys I grew up with. There was always one in the neighborhood,” Biden told the audience about his opinionated interlocutor.
The man offered to sign a Trump hat for Biden, an offer the president quickly declined.
“Absolutely not,” he said, gently slipping the Trump hat over the baseball cap he was already wearing.
“This old man, he's so proud of him now,” a Trump supporter told Biden about the quick stunt.
Biden then warned the crowd against “eating cats and dogs,” referring to largely debunked claims by Trump and J.D. Vance that immigrants were eating pets in a small Ohio town.
However, Trump supporters claimed the pets “tasted delicious” like “Kentucky Fried Chicken.”
The woman who originally posted the video to TikTok, who claimed to be the granddaughter of a Trump supporter, did not immediately respond to The Washington Post's request for comment about the exchange.
Footage of Biden joking around with the man and trying on a Trump hat quickly went viral.
The White House called the gesture a show of “bipartisan unity” in marking the solemn anniversary of 9/11, but most commenters were quick to take the joke at face value.
“I'm Joe Message and I endorse this Biden,” newsletter writer Craig Chamberlain replied via X, seemingly fueling an ongoing joke about Biden's alleged senility.
“Biden has come to his senses,” another user wrote.
1 person Posted a meme A photo of Biden with former President Barack Obama was edited to show him with a Trump hat on his head.
“Joe will be going on a comedy tour after he leaves office,” says the self-described “most conservative dog in X.” Agreed.
