Tipsheet

Biden's Historic Meeting With Trump Unintentionally Led to the Funniest Photo Op of All Time

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  November 13, 2024 11:45 PM

President-elect Donald J. Trump met with outgoing President Joe Biden, and it became one of the most unintentionally hilarious photo moments ever. The two men, who don’t share much affinity for one another, did manage to be cordial and respectful in front of the cameras. 

Both men are all smiles compared to Trump’s White House visit with Barack Obama following the 2016 election. Biden has promised a smooth transition for Mr. Trump, who will be the second president in American history to serve two non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland. Even CNN reported that Biden staffers watched this historic moment, albeit with pains in their stomachs (via WaPo):

President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump met face-to-face on Wednesday morning in the Oval Office, an extraordinary moment for two men who have repeatedly expressed public disdain for one another as they go through one of the most unusual transfers of power in American history. 

[…]

For Trump, it marked a triumphant return to an office where he sat for four years, a week after decisively winning an election by relentlessly attacking Biden’s mental capacity and then by casting the Biden administration as a disaster. 

“Congratulations,” Biden said at the start of the meeting, during the brief time reporters were in the room. He added that he hoped it would be a smooth transition. 

“Politics is tough, and in many cases it’s not a nice world,” Trump responded. “But it is a nice world today.” 

The meeting stretched for nearly two hours, longer than the one Trump had eight years ago with President Barack Obama. During a portion, they were joined by White House chief of staff Jeff Zients and his incoming counterpart, Susie Wiles. 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called it a “substantive meeting and exchange of views.” She said that she spoke with Biden after the meeting ended and that he wanted to emphasize that Trump “was gracious” and that he came to the meeting with a detailed list of questions. She declined to provide any details about what was on Trump’s list of questions and what advice Biden had offered — or whether Trump’s refusal to acknowledge Biden’s 2020 win had come up. 

So, what about all the Hitler talk? Many noted how the photos' caption should have read ‘Biden greets Adolf Hitler’ to the White House. It showed, as you already knew, that this line of attack was never serious. The Democrats knew it, and so did the voters, which is why it never resonated except for the most Trump-deranged who already live in the blue enclaves of states that aren’t gettable for Republicans. 

I guess democracy will endure because most aren’t idiots, the ones who didn’t vote for Harris-Walz.