US President Joe Biden's attempt at safeguarding himself from rain backfired when a video of him holding the hand of a White House Correspondent surfaced on social media. Biden was answering the question related to ending the federal COVID emergency.
Biden Confused the Question
The incident took place as the 80-year-old President was to board a flight to New York. NBC's White House Correspondent, Kristen Welker, asked Biden, "What's behind your decision to end the COVID emergency?"
Welker's question was in response to the announcement made by Biden about ending the COVID National emergencies by May 11, nearly three years after they were implemented. The video shows the US President turning to her amidst the loud noise of Marine One in the background, and suddenly grabbing her hand and slightly pulling her umbrella towards himself as he tried to keep himself dry.
"The COVID emergency will end when the Supreme Court ends it," Biden told the Correspondent. "We've extended it to May the 15th to make sure we get everything done. That's all. There's nothing behind it at all."
Fox News reported that it Biden, while answering the question, appeared to have confused the COVID emergency with the struggle to end Title 42, a policy enacted by his predecessor which turns away migrants at the southern border due to the pandemic. Even as the Biden administration is trying to reverse the same, the Supreme Court ruled to keep it in place at least until the spring.
Social Media Reacts
Biden's attempt at keeping himself dry led to several social media users trolling him besides dubbing him as 'creepy'. "OMG. @JoeBiden physically assaulted a reporter !!! This would be the headline if President Trump would have done that," tweeted a user.
"It wasn't a little girl so he didn't try to kiss her," wrote a user as another added, "I thought left is considered this a microaggression."
"Biden Grabs Female Reporter's Hand, Gets Inches From Her Face When Asked About Why the U.S. Health Emergency Will End #NewsBreak: God save us. The president is not well! Harris has to take over?! As we feared!" read another tweet.
"This man just can't keep his hands off of women and children. Gross," expressed a user.
