'I Thought You Might Clap For That': First Lady Jill Biden Tells Audience to Applaud During Awkward Washington Event
May 26 2023, Published 11:00 a.m. ET
First Lady Jill Biden made things awkward this week when she asked a crowd to applaud for her during an event in Washington, D.C., RadarOnline.com has learned.
The embarrassing incident took place on Thursday as President Joe Biden’s wife gave a speech at the Reagan Institute Summit on Education.
But after the first lady failed to garner any applause following one line in particular, she not-so-subtly informed the crowd that she “thought [they] might clap” for her.
“I’ve visited red states and blue states and I’ve found that the common values that unite us are deeper than our divisions,” she said on Thursday.
“And, um, I thought you might clap for that,” the first lady added after a short pause.
Thursday’s awkward moment led some viewers to compare the president’s wife to Jeb Bush who, on the campaign trail in 2016, went viral after telling a room of voters to “please clap” for him following a speech.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Jill Biden’s “please clap” moment on Thursday was not the first time she asked a crowd to applaud for her during a speech.
A similar incident took place in 2019 as the 71-year-old educator-turned-first lady was campaigning for her then-presidential candidate husband in Iowa.
“Finally someone is standing up to the NRA and keeping our children and our schools safe,” she said during the event.
“That’s my applause line,” she added after failing to receive a response. “Come on!”
The first lady made headlines more recently after she was caught kissing Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, on the lips during President Biden’s State of the Union Address in February.
That awkward moment also caused concern, with viewers rushing to social media to express their surprise regarding the incident.
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“Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff greet each other with... a kiss on the lips?” one viewer tweeted after a clip of the kiss went viral. “Is this... normal?”
“OMG! I caught that,” wrote another confused viewer. “I thought at the time… Did they just kiss on the lips?”
