Joe Biden chose a symbolic location for the speech near Valley Forge (AFP)
Pennsylvania, US:
US President Joe Biden has once again become the topic of discussion on social media after a video clip of first lady Jill Biden leading him offstage after his January 6 anniversary remarks went viral. A clip shared by RNC Research’s X account shows footage from the end of Biden’s speech near Valley Forge in Pennsylvania on Friday when his wife is leading him away from the podium.
Users were amused that the White House staff allowed Joe Biden’s wife to rush to the stage and lead the president away from the podium before he could make any awkward hesitations or walk to the wrong end of the stage in confusion, Fox News reported.
The video shows Jill Biden going up to the stage as soon as the President’s speech ended, grabbing his hand, and leading him to the back of the stage where they both disappeared behind the American flags that were on display.
Jill, Ed.D., escorts Biden off the stage following his remarks pic.twitter.com/jCaV2Rtk49
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 5, 2024
Biden, 81, the oldest president in American history when he took office in 2021, has faced doubts from pundits whether he is still fit to lead the US. The Democrat’s age has become an issue as he seeks re-election in November.
Kickstarting the 2024 election campaign, Biden accused former US President Donald Trump of echoing Nazi Germany with a major speech warning of a threat to democracy.
“He’s willing to sacrifice our democracy, put himself in power,” the Democrat said of his likely Republican rival on the eve of the third anniversary of the January 6 Capitol attack.
Biden chose a symbolic location for the speech near Valley Forge, the historic site where George Washington regrouped American forces during the war of independence nearly 250 years ago.
He said that twice-impeached former president Trump had failed to prevent the Capitol mob assault in 2021, and accused the tycoon and his supporters of still embracing political violence ahead of the 2024 vote.
“He talks about the blood of Americans being poisoned, echoing the same exact language used in Nazi Germany,” said Biden, who was greeted by chants from supporters of “four more years.”
“Donald Trump’s campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future. He’s willing to sacrifice our democracy, put himself in power,” Biden said in the speech in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
Biden’s address marked an aggressive start to the year as he either trails or is neck and neck with Trump — the man he beat in 2020 — in recent polls.
Biden lags behind Trump in some polls, and also has the worst approval rating of any modern president at this stage in his term of office.
The president has failed to convince voters the economy is improving. Despite further US job growth in December, he acknowledged Friday in a statement that “some prices are still too high for too many Americans.”
Migration remains a major headache, while there is division in his party over his support for Israel’s war on Hamas, and Congress is blocking his bid for more funds for Ukraine.
(With AFP inputs)