Much of a politician’s job, particularly on the campaign trail, is said to boil down to shaking hands and kissing babies. President Biden went all in on that, in a somewhat awkward way, during a recent campaign event in Phoenix, Arizona, during which he elderly president wandered off stage shortly after being introduced by his campaign manager when he saw a baby in the crowd.
This time, the incident seemed to be much more Biden sensing an opportunity to have some fun with the crowd by playing with a baby, pulling faces with his young fan in the venue, which was a Mexican diner in Phoenix. That’s in contrast to other incidents in which Biden has wandered off the stage in awkward fashion when wrapping up a speech, something online commentators are often quick to poke fun at.
In any case, this incident occurred as Biden campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez, the granddaughter of Hispanic labor activist César Chávez, was giving her opening remarks to the crowd at the Mexican restaurant. After just a minute or so of her speaking about him, Biden wandered off the stage and made a beeline toward a baby in the crowd.
Then, Biden played with the baby for a minute, pulling his face as the baby and, reportedly, whispering, “How old?” That drew a plethora of laughs from onlookers in the crowd, which came despite Rodriguez continuing with her somewhat droll remarks about Biden and the movement she sees him as being part of.
Regardless of her continued speech, President Biden kept up the games with the baby, repeatedly pulling faces. He also chatted with the mother and fake chatted with the baby, trying to engage it with laughter and fun.
Biden then made his way back on stage and said, to the audience’s laughter, “Well, folks, I have to tell you straight up: I like y’all, but I couldn’t resist that little baby.” He added, also to the audience’s laughter, “Well, first of all, I want to thank you all and thank Luis for that introduction. When — when you’re president and they say, ‘Joe Biden is out in the waiting room,’ promise me you won’t say, ‘Joe who?”’
Watch the incident here:
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Continuing with his speech after admitting to have been distracted by the baby, Biden said, “Folks, look, you know, when I get criticism some places for having such a strong interest in Latino voters and Latino Americans and people here in the country, I point out to them — I say, ‘Can you imagine when you have 28 percent of all the students in public school are Latino, and — nationwide — anybody who doesn’t pay attention is really stupid.’ No, I’m serious. Think about it. Think about what this means. Think about the future. There’s such enormous opportunities.”
He added, realizing he should have kicked it off differently, But I should have started off by thanking Mary and Earl. Thank you very, very much. Thank you for very much for hosting us. Small businesses like yours all across America are the glue that holds communities together, and we want to thank you for that. I really mean it. Thank you. Look, and I want to thank my campaign manager you heard speak first. She is a — it’s a little bit in her blood. Cesar Chavez is her grandfather. And he’s the guy that got me interested.”