President Joe Biden crashed first lady Jill Biden’s Teachers of the Year State Dinner, where the White House wined and dined with prominent educators and teachers union leaders.
Stopping by for dinner was not on the president’s public agenda, but shortly after landing on Marine One on the South Lawn after a day trip to North Carolina, Biden had joined East Room guests.
The president uttered his favorite line, “I’m Jill Biden’s husband,” and then tried to convince the crowd that he belonged there, too.
“By the way, I actually taught for several years in law school and then was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania,” he said. —Don’t you applaud that? he said when the room full of teachers didn’t immediately applaud.
Dr. Biden had invited National Teacher of the Year, Missy Testerman of Tennessee, and top teachers from every state and territory, as well as Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association.
President Joe Biden (left) crashed first lady Jill Biden’s (center) state Teachers of the Year dinner, which was being held in the East Room on Thursday night. The appearance was not on his public agenda.
“By the way, I actually taught for several years in law school and then was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania,” he said. —Don’t you applaud that? he said when the room full of teachers didn’t immediately applaud.
Dr. Jill Biden welcomed her guests, top teachers from every state and territory and union leaders, and saluted teachers unions several times during her brief remarks.
No celebrities were invited, but some familiar faces from the administration were invited, including Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten.
Chasten Buttigieg is a professor by profession, while Emhoff teaches law at Georgetown.
During her remarks, Dr. Biden saluted the teachers unions several times and had Weingarten and Pringle stand to applause from the crowd.
Both the NEA and ATF endorsed Biden’s re-election campaign last year ahead of the Democratic primary.
“We celebrate you because teaching is not just a job, it is a vocation and you are all called to this profession for a reason,” Dr. Biden said. ‘You believe that a better world is possible. And you make that world real.
“And none of that could happen without the support of our unions,” he added.
She called her husband the “best education president.”
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, stands after being recognized by first lady Jill Biden at Thursday night’s state Teachers of the Year dinner.
The second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, sat in the crowd during Thursday night’s State Teacher of the Year Dinner.
Dr. Biden made history when she became first lady when she decided to keep her day job: a college professor at Northern Virginia Community College.
“Teaching is not what you do, but what you are,” the president said when he arrived as the plates were being carried away. “Believe me, I know,” he said with a laugh.
The president called it a “ridiculous idea” that the United States couldn’t do more to improve education.
‘How can we be the most powerful and significant country in the world without having the best education system in the world?’ Biden reflected.
Then he saw the exit.
“So I just came to thank you,” the president concluded. And I’m going to get out of here.