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What Made Obama and Biden's Intense Conversation at at Ethel Kennedy's Funeral Memorable

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  October 17, 2024 6:30 AM

Ethel Kennedy was put to rest yesterday. She passed away on October 10. She was 96 years old. Former presidents, government officials, family, and friends all gathered to pay their respects in Washington, D.C. (via CBS News):

The human rights advocate, mother and grandmother died in her sleep earlier this month after a stroke. She was 96.  

Mr. Biden said Kennedy played an "essential role in my life," offering glimpses of their personal relationship. When his first wife and daughter were killed in a car crash in 1972, "she was there," the president said. And when Mr. Biden was elected president in 2020, he received a letter from her that said it gave her great "comfort" to know the country was in his hands. And she always sent a Valentine's Day card. 

"I'm not bidin' my time waiting for you, valentine," one such card from her said, Mr. Biden recalled. 

The president said Kennedy was full of integrity, empathy, joy and light. And she and Ted Kennedy encouraged him when he was fed up with Congress and wanted to leave the Senate, he said. 

[…] 

Obama called Kennedy a "big dose in a small package," and a "spitfire from a young age." She was passionate about everything, Obama said, from juvenile justice reform to civil rights. 

"As serious as Ethel was about righting wrongs, she never seemed to take herself too seriously," Obama said.

Clinton called her an "amazing fireball with continuous energy." 

"I thought your mother was the cat's meow," Clinton told her assembled family. 

Okay, please take it easy there, Bill. 

Yet, even at this somber event, the politics of the election cycle seeped through with this purported heated exchange between Barack Obama and Joe Biden. They were not talking about the stock market. It was likely about the state of the 2024 race, where Obama, looking despondent and angry, appears to be giving Joe a piece of his mind about Kamala Harris. Any lip readers are welcome, but it’s not something positive. As some noted, the death organ in the background makes the clip:

Given Kamala’s deficits with core Democratic voter groups, a reported disastrous campaign operation in Pennsylvania, and a devastating Fox News interview, I’d be just as depressed as Obama if I were a Democrat.

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