President Joe Biden is being ruthlessly mocked on social media for a photo from the G-20 summit that users say perfectly sums up his entire presidency.
Standing in front of Rio de Janeiro’s Sugarloaf Mountain on Monday, world leaders gathered for a “Family Picture” — but something was missing.
In the photo and video from the event shared by C-SPAN, world leaders could be seen smiling and posing for the photo — but Biden was nowhere to be found.
The rest of the leaders stood for the photo on a platform for the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, then walked away after the pictures were taken, despite someone shouting that they needed to wait for Biden.
President Biden and other world leaders miss the "Family Picture" at #G20Summit. pic.twitter.com/wqA0zaLuC3
— CSPAN (@cspan) November 18, 2024
The individuals who did make it to the stage in time included socialist Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, communist Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While Russian President Vladimir Putin could not make it to the event, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov showed up in his place.
🌎 Today (18), after the launch of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty and the G20 Leaders'Summit first session in Rio de Janeiro, G20 representatives gather for the official Global Alliance photo. pic.twitter.com/CTFzFtEVD4
— G20 Brasil (@g20org) November 18, 2024
Obviously, Biden’s absenteeism prompted mockery on social media, with many pointing out that it sums up his entire presidency — as Biden ran a “basement campaign” where he barely did any public appearances and continued this pattern throughout his presidency, only showing up when it was absolutely necessary and refusing to speak to the press.
“His entire term in a post,” radio host Dana Loesch joked.
His entire term in a post https://t.co/CYzXSxCcPu
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) November 18, 2024
“The perfect illustration of the Biden Presidency,” another user agreed.
The perfect illustration of the Biden Presidency.
— Spitfire (@DogRightGirl) November 18, 2024
“It’s almost like he’s not running the country isn’t it?” another user sarcastically commented.
It's almost like he's not running the country isn't it?
— SaltyGoat (@SaltyGoat17) November 18, 2024
“Biden’s irrelevant—not only domestically, but on the world stage,” another user wrote.
Biden’s irrelevant—not only domestically, but on the world stage.
— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) November 18, 2024
“America has asked the same question for 4 years!” another user wrote in response to the cameraman shouting “Where’s Biden?”
America has asked the same question for 4 years!
— .🇺🇸 SGT Valadez 𝕏 (@SGTValadez) November 18, 2024
Political commentator Stephen L. Miller also joined in on the mockery, joking that Biden “walked off into the Amazon yesterday and never returned.”
He walked off into the Amazon yesterday and never returned. https://t.co/b1VdH4X92A
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) November 18, 2024
Miller’s joke referenced Biden’s gaffe on Sunday, where he walked away into the Amazon rainforest from a podium after delivering remarks, refusing to take questions from the media.
Biden, who just authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles, takes no questions and retreats back into the Amazon rainforest pic.twitter.com/xy7xr6qYPZ
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 17, 2024
Reports indicate that Biden missed the photo because he was busy chatting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to USA Today correspondent Francesca Chambers, who was doing the White House press pool report for the G-20 photo event.
“Due to logistical issues, they took the photo early before all the leaders arrived,” a senior official reportedly claimed, according to Chambers.
