“Star Wars” superstar Mark Hamill joined President Joe Biden in the Oval Office for a momentous reason this week: to wish the president’s followers on social media a happy Star Wars Day. In a video shared by the president’s official X account, Biden himself delivered the celebration of the famed “may the force” pun, “May the 4th be with you” — before Hamill came into the frame and added, “Always.”
The video was shared with the caption, “We had a very good feeling about this. May the 4th be with you, America.”
The post included, of course, a reference to the famed “I have a bad feeling about this” line that became a running bit in the franchise.
Hamill also made a surprise appearance at Friday’s White House press briefing alongside Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. After being introduced, Hamill told the pool of journalists, “How many of you had Mark Hamill will lead the press briefing on your bingo card? Hands? Yeah, me either.”
“And look, I just got to meet the president and he gave me these aviator glasses. I love the merch, I love it all,” he continued. “But listen, I just wanted to say I was honored to be asked to come to the White House to meet the president. The most legislatively successful president in my lifetime. And I don’t have to go through the list of bipartisan infrastructure law, the PACT Act, the CHIPS Act, all that — inflation, 15 million jobs.”
“It’s all good,” he continued. “I mean, I was really thrilled to meet the entire staff, because you know, it’s not just one person. It’s like a composite endeavor.”
Hamill added, “And all these people, my goodness. I mean, I have no idea. I had no idea just what went into… what is on his plate on a daily basis … And it just shows you that one person can be so influential and so positive in our lives.”
Though it is now celebrated by fans on May 4th each year, the Star Wars Day slogan “May the 4th be with you” was originally used on the 4th of July in 1978, following the release of the first film in the franchise the year before. The holiday was celebrated on May 4 the following year after Margaret Thatcher became the first female prime minister of Britain and her party celebrated with a half-page advertisement in The London Evening News that read, “May the Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations!”
Watch the moment with President Biden and Mark Hamill in the video at the top of the story, as well as Hamill’s press room appearance above.
