WASHINGTON — Retiring President Biden appeared in public Thursday for the primary time since turning 82 — jokingly asking the NBA championship-winning Boston Celtics to substantiate “you’re Celtics, proper” briefly public remarks earlier than dribbling a basketball in entrance of a crowd.
Biden, who notched one other presidential age file along with his birthday Wednesday, spoke for about 5 minutes on the South Garden as he hosted members of the workforce — and scandal-plagued first son Hunter Biden, 54, was noticed within the crowd.
“Welcome to the White Home. I didn’t know any of those guys behind me, however they only confirmed up. I don’t know the place the hell they got here from,” Biden opened, referring to members of the workforce arrayed behind his lectern.
“2024 NBA champions the Balls — you’re Celtics, proper?” he went on, turning round. “The Boston Celtics.”
It’s unclear if Biden was trying to make a joke concerning the notion of his fading psychological acuity, over which fellow Democrats compelled him to relinquish the Democratic presidential nomination in July in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris, who went on to lose the Nov. 5 election.
Biden instructed the 18-title-winning workforce that his Secret Service title can also be “Celtic” — calling himself an “an outdated Irish Celtic,” referring to his ancestry within the British isles.
The Biden household’s different code names additionally start with “C” — with Hunter, who’s awaiting sentencing for gun and tax crimes, referred to as “Chieftain.”
It’s unclear if the outgoing president will pardon his son earlier than leaving workplace on Jan. 20.
Biden, who simply returned Tuesday night time from a virtually weeklong South America tour the place he repeatedly snubbed the press, once more took no questions from journalists Thursday.
Biden’s silence has roiled the press — as he continues to stay mum on his determination to permit Ukraine to make use of US rockets far inside Russia and about President-elect Donald Trump’s transition, which he claimed earlier this 12 months posed the chance of ending American democracy.
The lame-duck president, nonetheless, labored the rope line and posed for various selfies after being offered with a gifted Celtics jersey bearing his title.
One spectator tossed him a basketball, which he dribbled on the White Home’s driveway whereas smiling earlier than returning inside.
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