On Thursday, US President Joe Biden attended an event marking the 80th anniversary of the Western Allies’ landing in Normandy, France. The event was hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron at the American memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer. It commemorated the significant moment when American troops suffered heavy casualties capturing the beach designated as “Omaha” from the Germans in June 1944.
A twelve-second video that circulated on social media showed President Biden struggling to find his seat during the ceremony, while both Macron and their respective wives remained standing. The clip was captioned with the word “awkward” by RNC Research, an account run by the US Republican Party and the presidential campaign of Biden’s rival, Donald Trump. It garnered over 1.9 million views in just four hours.
Some social media users described President Biden as looking “completely lost” or experiencing some sort of “episode.” Others claimed he was attempting to sit on a chair that wasn’t there. In the video, Jill Biden can be seen covering her mouth, which led some to speculate she might have instructed her husband to stand up. Another popular theory suggested that President Biden had soiled himself during the event.
President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., reposted the video with a comment: “Is there ever a time when Americans realize just how much of an embarrassment this is on a world stage? Does this kind of incompetence and weakness encourage our enemies to act the way they’ve been acting? Of course it does.
Another video shared by RNC Research showed Jill Biden leading her husband away from the stage, while Macron stayed behind to shake hands with surviving veterans of the Normandy operation.
At 81 years old, President Joe Biden is the oldest US president ever to take the oath of office. He has faced rumors about his physical health and mental acuity for years but has maintained that he is perfectly fine and more capable than ever. Despite the focus on his awkward behavior during the event, some of the things he said in Normandy went unnoticed. In his speech honoring American veterans of WWII – who fought alongside the Soviet Union – President Biden appeared to use the occasion to call for a war against Russia in the present day.
We cannot surrender to the bullies, it is simply unthinkable. If we do, freedom will be subjugated, all Europe will be threatened,” he warned. He emphasized that NATO and democracy were “more at risk now than at any point since World War II.” France initially planned to invite a Russian delegation to the anniversary events but decided against it last month. The Soviet Union played a significant role in fighting Nazi Germany during WWII.