President Joe Biden appeared to freeze on stage after delivering remarks at a star-studded fundraising event in Los Angeles on Saturday night before his former boss grabbed his arm and led the president away.
The incident captured on video is the latest in a series of episodes that have tormented Biden, 81, as he prepares his second run for the White House.
In the video, Biden and Obama are seen waving and smiling as they receive a standing ovation at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
Biden claps and gives a thumbs up to the audience, but then stops moving as he stares at the crowd for several long seconds.
That’s when Obama, still smiling and waving, grabs Biden by the wrist and gives him a gentle tug. That’s when the president seems to recover.
They proceed to walk off the stage along with Obama speaking in Biden’s ear while patting him on the back as they go.
Late night host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel awkwardly follows them as they exit with loud music.
It took place as Biden and Obama shared the stage at the event that raised more than $30 million for Biden’s re-election bid.
It comes just after other videos appeared to show Biden frozen or having other embarrassing moments in recent days and his penchant for public gaffes has faced increasing scrutiny as he seeks another term despite his advanced age. .
At a recent Juneteenth celebration at the White House, a video of Biden staring as other attendees danced around him to the music went viral. The president then uttered a few words during his speech at the event, raising some concerns online.
Last week, while attending the G7 in Italy, a video showed Biden walking away from other world leaders while watching a skydiving demonstration and giving a thumbs up in the opposite direction.
The video then shows Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni tapping Biden on the shoulder and directing him back to the group where he puts on a pair of aviators.
Critics and some allies of Donald Trump have focused on the video as questions arise about the 81-year-old’s fitness for office.
But the White House criticized the criticism and the video, arguing that the widely shared clip cropped other skydivers Biden had been approaching to make it appear he had simply walked away.
Obama is seen giving Biden’s arm a gentle tug and leading him off the stage after the president freezes during applause at a fundraiser in Los Angeles.
President Biden speaking at a campaign fundraiser in Los Angeles on Saturday night before video shows him appearing frozen and being carried off stage by Obama.
Biden was joined by former President Obama and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for conversations at the star-studded fundraising event. The president took aim at Donald Trump and the conservative Supreme Court during the glitzy event.
The video of Biden frozen in the Los Angeles theater, although taken from a distance in the audience, clearly shows the president motionless before Obama intervenes.
Just before the captured moment, Biden had been speaking alongside Biden in a conversation with Kimmel in which he criticized his political opponent Donald Trump and warned against allowing the former president to return to the White House.
Biden called the possibility that Trump could pick two more Supreme Court justices “one of the scariest parts” of the former Republican president being re-elected and even joked about his hair.
‘Do you remember the pandemic? He said, “Don’t worry, just inject some bleach,” the president said. “It worked for me,” Kimmel joked.
“It worked for (Trump),” Biden responded. “He dyed her hair.”
Obama also took aim at Trump, arguing that there are certain “standards and values that we must uphold.”
While Obama has been publicly raising money for Biden’s re-election campaign and appearing in campaign videos, behind closed doors supposedly warned of Trump’s political strength in a conversation with Biden last year.
Polls have shown that Biden’s age has been one of voters’ biggest concerns this election season. He is already the oldest president to ever hold the office.
On Saturday, Trump gave a speech in Detroit, where he challenged Biden to a cognitive test. But then the 78-year-old former president also made a series of blunders.
The pair will face off in a highly anticipated first debate in less than two weeks.
