Biden says he was ‘fired’ from gig whereas reminiscing about ‘1912’ at Coast Guard Friendsgiving
President Joe Biden joked about his age – and getting ‘fired’ – as he served up Brussels sprouts at a Coast Guard ‘Friendsgiving’ Monday night on Staten Island.
Biden doled out Thanksgiving food for nearly 50 minutes before making an announcement. At 82, he is the oldest president in American history.
‘I’ve just been told I’ve been fired,’ said Biden – who was pressured by his own party to drop his reelection bid in July after a disastrous late June debate performance heightened old-age concerns.
He went on to say he was fired from handing out dinner servings and that it was time for him to return to the White House.
He also made an odd joke that he needed to go because he had been holding up traffic and no one would ever vote for him again. It’s unclear what he meant as he has indicated he is retiring from public life and has no intention of ever running again for public office.
‘They set a time for how long we’re going to be somewhere. And then what they do is they close all the roads, the Secret Service does,’ the president explained.
‘And if you want to lose all support for your Coast Guard and no one will ever vote for me again, I better get the hell out of here,’ the lame duck president added.
The president and Jill Biden were serving Friendsgiving dinner to members of the Coast Guard and their families as part of the first lady’s Joining Forces initiative.
Biden opened the event by suggesting he had been around even longer than his 82 years.
‘I hadn’t planned on saying this, but I was thinking about this when I was coming up. I was a pretty good football player in high school … but my quarterback was all-state as well. He came along and he ended up being a quarterback for the Coast Guard Academy,’ Biden said.
‘In 1912,’ he added, prompting laughter from the crowd.
82-year-old President Joe Biden joked about his age – and getting ‘fired’ – as he served up Brussels sprouts at a Coast Guard ‘Friendsgiving’ Monday night on Staten Island
President Biden makes a face at a child as he serves up dinner
President Joe Biden scoops some Brussels sprouts onto a Thanksgiving plate during a ‘Friendsgiving’ celebration Moniday night at the Coast Guard Sector New York on Staten Island
The Bidens made it an annual tradition to spend the Monday evening of Thanksgiving week with members of the U.S. armed forces.
The couple journeyed to New York on Monday night for the final one as president as first lady. Neither Biden was fazed when small children interrupted their remarks with shouts and cries.
‘Kids are screaming, hollering and crying. We’re Bidens. We’re used to it,’ the president said.
Biden also warned parents he’d come to their tables to talk to them and their children, noting he likes babies best.
‘As everybody knows I like kids better than people,’ he said.
Unlike Halloween, however, Biden didn’t nibble any babies.
Instead he was caught sneaking some dinner rolls as he served the military families their Thanksgiving dinner.
He also posed for some selfies.
English celebrity chef Robert Irvine designed and cooked the menu, which includes the president’s favorite dessert of ice cream.
After his formal remarks, Biden greeted the audience again with a ‘hello, hello, hello.’
President Joe Biden takes a selfie has he works a food line at a ‘Friendsgiving’ dinner for Coast Guard families on Staten Island Monday night
‘As everybody knows I like kids better than people,’ President Joe Biden told the crowd before doling out Brussels sprouts at a Friendsgiving celebration
President Biden was in charge of handing out Brussel sprouts
The Bidens returned to the White House Monday evening.
The first family will spend Thanksgiving on Nantucket, an island off the coast of Massachusetts.
It’s their long-standing tradition and they are expected to be accompanied by their family.
The Bidens are scheduled to leave on Tuesday and return on Saturday. President Biden leaves on Sunday for a trip to Angola.
Earlier Monday Biden pardoned two turkeys – Peach and Blossom – in his final turkey pardoning as president.
The commander-in-chief filled his speech with cringeworthy one-liners about ‘fowl’ play that was at one point interrupted by Peach’s gurgle.
‘Yeah I hear you. Peach wants to speak a little bit,’ Biden responded.
‘They tell me 2500 people are here… looking for a pardon!’ Biden joked as he addressed the crowd on the South Lawn.
‘Keep calm and gobble on’ he added before turning to a more serious note to reflect on the ‘honor of a lifetime’ serving as president.
The lame duck President Joe Biden gave Thanksgiving pardons to turkeys Blossom and Peach on Monday to save them from an American family feast
Beau Biden examines one of the turkeys
The topic of pardons has been constant in the White House with Hunter Biden facing sentencing for tax crimes next months.
The president has said repeatedly he won’t pardon or commute his son’s sentence.
But Biden does have the power to give a reprieve to anyone he wants, including his son, those people worried about retribution from Donald Trump, and even turkeys.
‘I hereby pardon Peach and Blossom!,’ he declared. While he did the pardoning, Hunter’s son Baby Beau watched from the sidelines.
Blossom and Peach weight 40 and 41 pounds, respectively, and were raised on a farm in Northfield, Minnesota.
They were raised by John Zimmerman, chairman of the National Turkey Federation, and his 9-year-old son, Grant.
After being pardoned by, the turkeys will return to live at Farmamerica, an agricultural interpretive center in Waseca, Minnesota.
