The White House insists President Joe Biden’s decision to wear a hat with his former opponent’s name on it was a “gesture” of “unity.”
During a Wednesday visit to a fire station in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a video showed Biden speaking with a man wearing a Trump hat and showing him a hat with the presidential seal on.
“You gonna autograph it?” the man asked.
Biden responded, “Sure, I’ll autograph it.”
“You remember your name?” the man asked.
Biden responded, “I don’t remember my name… I’m slow.”
The man shot back, “You’re an old fart.”
“Yeah, I’m an old guy… You would know a lot about that,” Biden countered.
He told the man, “I need that hat,” and he pointed to the Trump hat.
Watch the video below:
As other attendees suggested Biden should put the hat on, he said, “I’m ain’t going that far!”
He then placed the hat over his cap as the audience cheered, and the man who gave it to him said, “I’m proud of you now.”
Biden added, “Just remember, no eating dogs and cats!” His comment was a jab at former President Donald Trump for bringing up the false claim migrants were eating pet dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio.
After the moment, White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said on X, “At the Shanksville Fire Station, [Biden] spoke about the country’s bipartisan unity after 9/11 and said we needed to get back to that.”
“As a gesture, he gave a hat to a Trump supporter who then said that in the same spirit, POTUS should put on his Trump cap. He briefly wore it,” he added.
