President Biden on Monday told a boy that he could “go steal a pumpkin” to avoid his “boring” speech about Thanksgiving to Marine Corps members in North Carolina.
Biden, 80, made the surprising stab at humor when he approached the eldest of four children whose Marine Corps mother had just introduced the president.
The well-behaved boy had been minding two of his three younger siblings as his mother spoke and his father held the family’s squirming infant.
“This has to be boring, boring, boring for these kids who are standing up here,” Biden said, grasping the boy’s shoulder. “You’re allowed to do anything you want to do, including go steal a pumpkin if you want — anything you want to do.”
The boy chose instead to listen politely to the president.
There were pumpkins decorating the Marine Corps Air Station in Cherry Point, NC, and Biden’s attempts at humor continued — on the heels of his morning turkey pardon — as he told the troops that “the reason we came is the chef’s not bad.”
Biden more seriously recounted to the soldiers his family’s experience with his late son Beau Biden working overseas in the military and praised the families of troops who have to endure their absence.
President Biden speaking at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in Havelock, North Carolina during a Thanksgiving dinner with military members and their families on November 21, 2022. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
“Thank you, thank you, thank you for all you’ve done. By the way, I’m serving mashed potatoes so come to my place,” Biden said.
After wrapping up, the president snapped a cellphone selfie with the family and whispered something into the baby’s ear — before donning an apron and scooping mashed potatoes as first lady Jill Biden handled stuffing for an assembly-line buffet.
The president was then swiftly handed a bowl of what appeared to be ice cream before he and the first lady greeted troops, including sitting for conversation and posing for photos.
