The intense conversation between Barack Obama and Joe Biden at Ethel Kennedy’s funeral has been decoded for the first time by a professional lip reader.
A clip showing the couple. Having an intense conversation at Ethel Kennedy’s memorial service in Washington DC on Wednesday sparked a number of theories on social media about what was said and who they were talking about.
While no audio was captured, Jeremy Freeman, a professional lip reader, told DailyMail.com that Biden tells Obama: “She’s not as strong as me.”
Obama solemnly responded: ‘I know… that’s true. We have time.’
While there’s no way to determine which woman they’re talking about, Freeman said it’s clear they were having “a very supportive conversation.”
US President Joe Biden (L) speaks with former President Barack Obama (R) before Ethel Kennedy’s memorial service.
Obama told Biden, “No, that’s not happening,” to which Biden simply responded, “Hmm.”
Obama adds: “(I think it’s important that we get to spend some time together, we’ll take that at face value).”
Biden then says, “Yes, that’s true.” Maybe we can…she’s not as strong as me.’
‘I know, that’s true. We have time…’, Obama responds.
Biden then appears to back his predecessor, saying, “Yes, we’ll get there in time.”
Obama then turns his back to the camera and says something to Biden, to which he responds, “Uh-huh.”
The funeral was the first time Obama and Biden met since the current president abandoned his re-election campaign and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
In July, Obama told his Democratic allies that Biden should seriously consider resigning after the president’s disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.
Reports at the time claimed that Obama believed Biden’s path to victory had been greatly diminished in the wake of the debate, but he thought the president needed to make the decision to resign.
Biden said in his resignation speech: “I have decided that the best path forward is to pass the torch to a new generation.” It is the best way to unite our nation.
‘I know there was a time and a place for long years of experience in public life. There is also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices. And that time and place is now.’
Despite the grandeur of his speech, Biden was reportedly furious at being forced to resign.
US President Joe Biden (L), along with former presidents Barack Obama (center) and Bill Clinton (right), attend a memorial service for Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert F. Kennedy, at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington. DC
“He’s really pissed off,” a person in contact with his inner circle said at the time.
The conversation at the funeral appeared to have been interrupted by Clinton, who looked at them and pointed toward the front of the cathedral.
Obama endorsed Kamala Harris after Biden dropped out of the race and was on the campaign trail last week.
He sparked controversy for accusing black voters who do not support Harris of sexism and demanding they join the Democrats.
Ethel Kennedy was the widow of former Attorney General and U.S. Senator Robert, who was assassinated while seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968.
Biden, Obama and Clinton sing during Ethel Kennedy’s funeral on Wednesday
She never remarried and raised her 11 children, enduring a series of other family tragedies along the way, including separate plane crashes that killed her parents, brother and nephew, as well as the premature deaths of several of her children, grandchildren and a great-grandson.
She and her husband were devastated by the assassination of her brother, President John F. Kennedy, in Dallas in 1963.
Biden, a fellow Irish Catholic who has leaned on his faith amid his own losses, including the death of his son Beau, said the Democratic family matriarch was there for him at the time of tragedy.
She said her husband had been one of her heroes.
“Ethel was a hero in her own right,” Biden said.
“She was a fool,” Obama said. “Although Ethel took the task of correcting mistakes very seriously, she never seemed to take herself too seriously.”
