By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-26 03:06:18 | Updated at 2024-11-26 05:39:41
2 hours ago
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.
The president and first lady Jill Biden attended the event as part of the first lady's Joining Forces initiative.
Biden doled out Thanksgiving food for nearly 50 minutes before making an announcement.
'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 had opened the event by suggesting he had been around even longer than his 82 years - after celebrating his birthday last week.
'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.
Neither the president nor the first lady was fazed when small children interrupted their remarks with shouts and cries.
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 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
'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
He then cracked a joke about his firing - before explaining the real reason he had to go.
'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.
Biden could technically run for office again - but that's extremely unlikely since age concerns are what pushed him out.
