President Joe Biden on Thursday signed legislation to award four congressional gold medals to the United States Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department for protecting Congress at the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot.
Joined by members of Congress, law enforcement officers and the families of police officers who died following the attack, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris held the formal signing ceremony in the White House Rose Garden.
Among those in attendance were family members of the late Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died after he was pepper-sprayed during the Jan. 6 attack and suffered two strokes the following day.
Now, a video from the White House event is being widely circulated on social media for all the wrong reasons. In the clip, shared on Twitter by a pro-Trump supporter, a maskless Biden is seen calling over the young daughter of one of the police officers after he spots her in the crowd. He then makes her sit on his lap and then appearing to whisper something in her ear, which the Twitter user's caption claims was an attempt to "sniff" her.
Creepy Joe Trends on Twitter
The clip instantly went viral on Twitter and eventually led to Creepy Joe becoming a trending topic on the micro-blogging platform with users sharing their views on the video. Some questioned the placement of Biden's right hand and the little girl's reaction immediately after the president "sniffed" her:
"Where the hell is his right hand?" wrote one user, while another commented, "Poor little girl, her quick reaction said it all. Where are her parents??"
"For a moment he forgot others were present and watching. He just can't help it," opined another.
Meanwhile others defended the president's actions as "innocent" and "caring."
"I see a kind caring Grandfather giving attention to a child that's had to learn too early about life and death," one user commented, while another wrote, "It's on you for taking something innocent and making it creepy."
"The 'Creepy Joe' posts are pretty sickening. If you see something sexual in this, it's YOU who has the problem," tweeted another. Here are some of the other trending tweets:
