President Joe Biden briefly wore a red MAGA hat on Wednesday during a visit to a fire station in Pennsylvania, as supporters of former President Donald Trump teased him. The surprising video, which went viral on social media, shows Biden briefly interacting with a voter before being given the hat to put on. The White House later tried to explain away the embarrassing moment as a “gesture” of unity.
Like Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, Biden attended multiple events Wednesday to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th attacks. He traveled to a fire station in Shanksville near the site of the Flight 93 crash, where he spoke with firefighters. The moment came less than a day after he gaffed and told reporters he planned to ‘do 9/11’ on Tuesday.
“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,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates wrote on X.
“As a gesture, he gave a hat to a Trump supporter who said that in the same spirit, POTUS should put on his Trump cap,” Bates added. “He briefly wore it.”
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🚨 FULL VIDEO: Joe Biden wears Trump MAGA Hat as crowd in Pennsylvania roars.
Biden asked for the red MAGA hat from a local and responded when the audience cheered for him to put it on.
“I’m proud of you now, you old fart!” says the owner of the MAGA hat.
Man, I love America: pic.twitter.com/76RiV8Pbky
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 11, 2024
A video of the interaction posted to X shows Biden first offering a Presidential cap to a Trump supporter. “I’ll give you my Presidential hat,” Biden told the audience member, pointing out the “Presidential seal on it.”
Taking the hat, the man then told Biden to sign it. “Do you remember your name?” he asked the President.
“I don’t remember my name,” Biden joked. “I’m slow.”
The man continued to taunt Biden, calling him an “old fart” several times.
“I know you would know about that,” the President quipped back, to which the man replied he was still a “young timer.”
“He reminds me of the guys I grew up with,” Biden said as he handed over the autographed hat. “There was always one in the neighborhood.” After the man offered his signature to Biden in return, the President responded “hell no.”
Soon after, the crowd started urging Biden to wear the Trump supporter’s MAGA hat. Someone on Biden’s team can be seen trying to intervene before being waved away by the President. The crowd applauded as he put on the hat.
“I’m proud of you now, you old fart,” the Trump supporter said.
“Just remember, no eating dogs and cats,” Biden replied.
Join your fellow patriots and subscribe to our Youtube Channel
Thanks for the support, Joe! pic.twitter.com/GeNDXWEHVi
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 11, 2024
The moment was quickly seized on by the Trump campaign, which jokingly thanked Biden for his “endorsement.”
“Kamala did so bad in last night’s debate, Joe Biden just put on a Trump hat,” the Trump War Room posted to X.
On Tuesday, Trump himself claimed during the Presidential debate that Biden “hates” Harris for replacing him at the top of the Democratic ticket. Interestingly, he also joked about gifting her a MAGA hat.
“Everything that she believed three years ago and four years ago is out the window. She’s going to my philosophy now,” Trump said.
“In fact, I was going to send her a ‘MAGA’ hat. She’s going to my philosophy.”
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