Joe Biden says George Floyd’s daughter wanted to sit on his lap at White House: 'My wife would kill me'
President Joe Biden raised eyebrows on Tuesday, May 25, when he told reporters that George Floyd’s daughter wanted to sit on his lap during a visit to the White House. Shortly after, he randomly muttered "my wife would kill me".
Biden also spoke about what Gianna Floyd ate at the White House. The 46th president's comment came after Floyd's family members visited the White House on Tuesday on the first anniversary of his demise. Floyd died in May 2020 at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
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“[Gianna] threw her arms around me, gave me a big hug, and wanted to sit on my lap," Biden told reporters about the visit, before one of them asked about what Gianna ate at the White House. “My wife would kill me,” Biden responded. "...we gave her some ice cream, she had some Cheetos, and I think she had some chocolate milk,” he added.
PRES. BIDEN: George Floyd's daughter Gianna "threw her arms around me, gave me a big hug — and wanted to sit in my lap."
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 25, 2021
"My wife would kill me — we gave her some ice cream, she had some Cheetos, and I think she had some chocolate milk," POTUS says. pic.twitter.com/YbWYzVhvag
Biden has previously grabbed headlines over his personal space faux pas. In March last year, then-presidential candidate Biden was filmed allegedly sniffing a baby in Oakland, California, on Super Tuesday. The footage was shared on Twitter by New York Times national politics reporter Katie Glueck, according to the Daily Caller. The tweet has since been taken down.
Just months before that, a 2017 speech resurfaced showing Biden at a Delaware campaign event describing how he would let children play with his leg hair when he was a lifeguard at a swimming pool. “I got a lot of — I got hairy legs that turn... blonde in the sun,” he said in the video. “And the kids used to come up and reach in the pool and rub my leg down so it was straight and then watch the hair come back up again. They’d look at it.”
In May 2019, the Independent reported that during a town hall event that was held by the American Federation of Teachers in Houston, Texas, Biden was asked a question by a 10-year-old girl about how the country is divided at the moment. He responded with a lengthy answer which brushed on the issue of immigration.
He then approached the child and promised her that he will write her a formal letter that addressed his policy on the matter. Biden then leaned to talk to her and shake her hand before saying, "I bet you're as bright as you are good-looking." After he found out that the child is interested in becoming a journalist in the future, he took her over to meet the press and then proceeded to put his hands on her shoulders.
This incident came only weeks after Biden responded to claims about him where he was accused of acting in an inappropriate way towards women, which he promised he would rectify in a video that was posted to his official Twitter account.
Social norms are changing. I understand that, and I’ve heard what these women are saying. Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future. That’s my responsibility and I will meet it. pic.twitter.com/Ya2mf5ODts
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 3, 2019
Biden's apology came after several women, including former Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores, came forward to accuse him of sniffing hair and other forms of inappropriate touching. “I felt him get closer to me from behind,” Flores wrote in New York Magazine, describing a 2014 incident at a campaign rally. “He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself, ‘I didn’t wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it'.”