Joe Biden jokingly wore a “Trump 2024” campaign hat in a brief moment during a 9/11 memorial event, laughingly reminding folks not to eat any cats or dogs.
The moment went down at the Shanksville Fire Station in Pennsylvania, where the president recalled United Flight 93. He also discussed the need for the country to come together and avoid divisiveness in the midst of Americans’ political differences as he met with a group of firefighters.
The station is located near where Flight 93, one of the four planes hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001, crashed. Biden initially offered his hat, which featured the presidential seal, to a Trump supporter as a kind gesture.
“I’ll give you my presidential hat, presidential seal on it,” Biden said while handing it to the man.
“You going to autograph it?” the man asked.
“Sure I’ll autograph it,” Biden said while penning his signature onto the cap. “Here you go, man.”
In an effort to show an example of what unity can look like, he told the man he needed to wear that guy’s “Trump 2024” hat.
“I need that hat,” Biden quipped, as the Trump supporter lifted it from his head to hand it to Biden.
“You want my autograph?” the man joked with Biden.
“Hell no,” Biden responded.
That’s when another person from the crowd yelled for him to wear it.
“Put it on! Put it on!” the person hollered.
“I ain’t going that far!” Biden initially exclaimed, pausing before putting the cap on top of his head briefly. The group instantly burst into cheers.
“There you go!” the Trump supporter said. “I’m proud of you now, you old fart!”
To show off his comedic chops even more, Biden threw some jokey shade by reminding folks to stay away from munching on furry, domesticated animals — a gag squarely targeted at Republicans’ false claims about Haitian refugees in Springfield, Ohio.
“Just remember: don’t eat dogs and cats!” Biden said, making light of Trump doubling down on the fake news surrounding Haitian migrants during his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.
To clarify the president’s intent, White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates explained Biden’s wearing of the cap via an X post after Trump’s “War Room” account thanked Biden for his support.
At the Shanksville Fire Station, @POTUS spoke about the country's bipartisan unity after 9/11 and said we needed to get back to that.
— Andrew Bates (@AndrewJBates46) September 11, 2024
As a gesture, he gave a hat to a Trump supporter who then said that in the same spirit, POTUS should put on his Trump cap. He briefly wore it. https://t.co/7VKZnkVMY7
“At the Shanksville Fire Station, @POTUS spoke about the country’s bipartisan unity after 9/11 and said we needed to get back to that,” Bates wrote. “As a gesture, he gave a hat to a Trump supporter who then said that in the same spirit, POTUS should put on his Trump cap. He briefly wore it.”
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