EthelGate: Joe Biden Branded 'Former President' In Massive Gaffe By White House Press Secretary After His Intense Conversation With Barack Obama at Ethel Kennedy Funeral
Oct. 18 2024, Published 4:00 p.m. ET
Joe Biden has been mistakenly mocked by the White House Press Secretary following his conversation with Barack Obama.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Biden and Obama, 63, appeared to be discussing Vice President Kamala Harris' chances of winning the White House while at Ethel Kennedy's funeral, as the 81-year-old seemed to say, "she's not as strong as me," to which Obama apparently replied, "I know... that's true... we have time."
Biden appeared to back his predecessor up, and responded: "Yeah, we'll get there in time."
On Thursday, when asked about it, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dance around the answer and mistakenly called Biden the "former president."
She said: "... And we have said many times, the president and former President Biden they have a very close relationship."
Jean-Pierre added: "I don't have anything else to share on that. I have not had this conversation with the president. Obviously we've been pretty busy these last few hours on the plane."
Before her head-scratching choice of words, Jean-Pierre, 50, shared: "... The president really very much appreciated being there at the funeral of Ethel Kennedy who he saw as someone who is incredible and was an incredible force obviously in her life during her years.
"And what he wanted to do was lift up - lift her up and speak to her accomplishment and what she meant to him, not just to him but to her family and to the country. So he appreciated doing that."
Despite Obama's apparent words to Biden, he has been pouring his energy into helping Harris and Tim Waltz's win — the former president recorded 21 videos for the campaign and content with influencers can be expected.
Hannah Hankins, a spokesperson for Obama who first worked for him in the White House, shared: “The goal has always been to pass the torch to the next generation of leaders to ensure the party is sustainable long term without him."
Obama has been keeping his involvement behind the scenes over the years, according to CNN. Some of his work has included meetings with New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
According to insiders, during a meeting at Obama's Washington office: "He talked to them about coming off like real people rather than scolding coastal elites and staying consistent rather than being pulled into the whirlwind of Washington consultant advice, according to people in the room."
Meanwhile, Obama's estranged half-sibling Abon'go Malik Obama recently claimed the popular politician is "still running the country" and will have a "big role to play" should Harris win the White House next month.
He said: "He's still running the Democratic Party, and he's still running the country behind closed doors. He's going to be extremely influential in whatever goes on should they win."
He also claimed Obama was instrumental in "swapping out" Biden for Harris, 59, as the Democratic nominee in July.
"Definitely he had something to do with it. I'm sure that they are talking almost every day," he told the New York Post.
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