Joe Biden jokingly wears 'Trump 2024' cap, White House issues clarification

Joe Biden took internet users by surprise yesterday, 11 September, after an interesting interaction with a Trump supporter. It had a few people wondering if he is no longer supporting his Vice President Kamala Harris as she battles Donald Trump in the presidential elections.

During an event, it briefly appeared as if the Democrat was switching camps—that is not the case of course, and we'll explain exactly what happened.

Joe Biden wore a bright red 'Trump 2024' cap

Videos and photos of Joe Biden donning a cap of his former rival, Trump, have been going viral. Biden was campaigning against the business mogul up until July, when he withdrew from the race and nominated Kamala Harris, who in 2020 became the first woman and the first person of colour to become the Vice President of the United States.

Indeed, as reported by the BBC, Biden was in Pennsylvania commemorating the anniversary of 9/11 when he happened upon a Trump supporter wearing a bright red baseball cap that said 'TRUMP 2024'. In the videos, he is seen signing his presidential hat, which he had offered to give to the Trump supporter. The two exchanged a few jokes, mostly about the age of Biden, after which the President told him he needed the Trump hat. Others in the video insisted Biden to put on the hat, and after initial hesitation he did just that and received applause for it.

Biden then took the opportunity to mock Donald Trump for his recent claim about immigrants eating pets, and said:

The videos and photos of him with the bright red cap quickly caught the attention of Trump's campaign who posted it on X saying:

Thanks for the support, Joe!

No, Joe Biden has not switched camps

When taken out of context, it can be easy to make it seem as if Joe Biden has switched sides—especially given the timing of the debate. Something that was certainly done by Republican supporters.

However, that is not the case at all. In fact, White House Deputy Spokesman Andrew Bates had to clarify the situation on X, so that the posts would not be misleading to the public. He said:

At the Shanksville firehouse, POTUS talked about the bipartisan unity of the country after 9/11 and said we need to get back to that. As a gesture, he gave a Trump supporter a cap, who then said that POTUS should put on his Trump cap in the same spirit. He put it on briefly.

This article has been adapted from Ohmymag DE.

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Sources used:

Spiegel: White House explains viral photo: Why Joe Biden wore a 'Trump 2024' cap

N-TV: Thanks for support, Joe: Biden puts on 'Trump 2024' cap

X: Account of Andrew Bates, post dated September 11, 2024

X: Account of Trump War Room, post dated September 11, 2024

BBC: Biden wears Trump hat as 9/11 unity gesture, says White House

The Telegraph: ‘Don’t eat cats and dogs,’ Biden tells voters while wearing Trump hat