The White House has defended Joe Biden’s (brief) decision to wear a pro-Donald Trump hat at a 9/11 memorial gathering of Pennsylvania firefighters.
Images circulated on social media of the President donning a “Trump 2024” hat just hours after the presidential debate between the Republican and Vice President Kamala Harris, during which the former president joked about sending his adversary a MAGA hat for continuing to implement Trump-era trade tariffs, and said Biden “hated” his Democratic successor for the events which led to his decision to drop out of the race.
At the memorial in Shanksville to commemorate Flight 93, Biden met with firefighters, many of whom were Trump supporters. After some joking about his age, Biden offered an autographed presidential cap in exchange for the Trump hat.
“I ain’t going that far,” Biden said to shouts of “put it on!” before donning the pro-Trump cap to large cheers.
It was a stark contrast to how the opposite would go. While liberals portray Trump as Hitler 2.0 (and legitimately believe this, as is evidenced by their actions), the same Republicans who believe Biden is the worst president ever still show him respect to his face – whether he deserves it or now.
Later on, Biden was also pictured with children, the majority of which were wearing t-shirts in support of Trump.
The Trump campaign thanked Biden “for the support” in a photo which quickly went viral.
Minutes later, White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates defended the President’s decision to don a hat in support of his predecessor.
“At the Shanksville Fire Station, [President Biden] spoke about the country’s bipartisan unity after 9/11 and said we needed to get back to that,” wrote Bates on X. “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.”
Conservatives on social media were less convinced by the rushed explanation.
Others alluded to Trump’s claim that Biden despises the Vice President.
