President Biden raised eyebrows this week when he got a bit too close for comfort to a young woman during an event in Irvine, Calif.
After delivering remarks Friday at Irvine Valley College where he talked about his administration’s plans to reduce inflation and lower drug costs, Biden stopped for photos with a young woman, put his arm on her shoulder and offered her some unsolicited dating advice.
“Now a very important thing I told my daughters and granddaughters — no serious guys until you’re 30!” he told the unnamed woman — leaning in close.
“Ok,” she said, awkwardly laughing off the remark. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
The moment was captured by reporter Kalen D’Almeida and posted to Twitter where it has since been viewed more than 2.8 million times. D’Almeida said members of the Secret Service had tried to prevent him from filming.
Biden hugging a voter at a campaign event in New Hampshire in 2020. The president has a history of getting up close and personal with women throughout his career. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Biden hugging social justice advocate Sister Simone Campbell at a Medal of Freedom event in the White House on July 7, 2022. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Biden getting close to actress Eva Longoria at a Las Vegas event in 2014. Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Biden embracing ALF-CIO President Liz Shuler during a September 8, 2021 ceremony at the White House. Getty Images
President Biden giving a hug to Haylee Shuping after awarding her the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor on behalf of her fallen police officer husband Jason Shuping on May 16, 2022. villa/Getty ImagesThe line is a Biden staple. In March the president offered near-identical advice to a group of girls at a Philadelphia elementary school — causing similarly awkward laughter.
During his presidential campaign, Biden faced renewed scrutiny for his history of getting up close and personal with young women in encounters which often included smelling their hair — earning him the Republican nickname “Creepy Joe.”
The president giving a squeeze to Danielle Robinson, wife of Sgt First Class Heath Robinson, at the signing ceremony for the PACT Act of 2022 on August 10, 2022. Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
Biden in a group hug with his son Hunter Biden and First Lady Jill Biden after being sworn in on January 20, 2021. Photo by JONATHAN ERNST/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Biden with Harvard graduate Madeliene Smith at a 2014 White House event. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images
Biden greeting Holocaust survivor Giselle Cycowicz at the Hall of Remembrance of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial museum in Jerusalem on July 13, 2022. Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images
Biden greeting labor organizer Susan Meyer at Irvine Valley Community College on October 14, 2022. Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesIn 2015, comedian Jon Stewart took Biden to task for the behavior which at the time he called “groping.”
