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What video games does Joe Biden play? POTUS' granddaughter Naomi posts clip of him defeating her at Mario Kart

'Secret service made an exception and allowed him to drive himself,' Naomi Biden posted, linking a short video of them playing the video game
UPDATED FEB 15, 2021
President Joe Biden with granddaughter Naomi who posted a video of him playing a game of Mario Kart (Getty Images/Instagram Story)
President Joe Biden with granddaughter Naomi who posted a video of him playing a game of Mario Kart (Getty Images/Instagram Story)

After being busy signing a flurry of executive orders, President Joe Biden took a break from work over the weekend, February 13, to spend some quality time with his family at Camp David in Maryland. It was during his stay that he went head to head with his granddaughter, Naomi, on a game of Mario Kart and he won!

Naomi, the daughter of Hunter Biden, took to the Instagram story to post that her grandfather beat her “barely” in the video game. “Secret service made an exception and allowed him to drive himself,” she posted, linking to a short video of them playing the video games, where both of them had their backs turned toward the arcade game screens. “A little rusty, but he still won (barely).”

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Earlier, the White House announced that Biden and his family are spending the weekend at Camp David for the first time since he entered the White House. The president had nothing else on his schedule except meeting with his national security team.

Before leaving Washington DC, the president himself told reporters that his main plans for the long weekend were to “just hang out with the family and do what we always do.” While presidents typically take the Marine One helicopter for Camp David trips, the weather forced the president to fly to Hagerstown, Maryland, via Air Force One, before taking a motorcade to the camp.

Joe Biden with his granddaughter Naomi on April 22, 2004 (Getty Images)

Biden against violent games

Although Biden seemed to be enjoying his time competing with his granddaughter, he has not had the most positive relationship with video game developers in the past. While he was the vice president, in a 2017 interview with the New York Times, he called such developers "creeps" who make "games to teach you how to kill people."

This was part of his answer to the question, "Under the Obama administration, Silicon Valley’s power actually expanded greatly. There are very few mergers blocked. Do you have any regrets about that?" In his response, he recalled having a meeting with Silicon Valley leaders. "At one point, one of the little creeps sitting around that table, who was a multi- - close to a billionaire told me he was an artist because he was able to come up with games to teach you how to kill people," Biden said.

It was not immediately clear which game publisher or studio Biden referred to. In 2012, when he was serving as former President Barack Obama's VP, Biden met with Silicon Valley leaders including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, and at least two prominent video game executives: former EA CEO John Riccitiello, and Zynga chairman Mark Pincus.

Then-President Barack Obama with then-Vice President Joe Biden (Getty Images)

"The fact is, in every other revolution that we’ve had technologically, it’s taken somewhere between six years and a generation for a government to come in and level the playing field again... And it’s a responsibility of government to make sure it is not abused. Not abused," Biden added at the time. 

After the NYT interview created quite a buzz on the internet, KXNET spoke to one of the disgruntled video game developers in North Dakota who said that he was not impressed with how Biden portrayed people like him as the enemy. “Video games have a lot of negative light shown on them but let’s talk about why they’re good too and I feel like that’s the biggest argument as far as violent video games and what the health benefits attached to it and violent video games are always attached to kids playing them and it’s like well there’s your issue right there,” shared Replay Games Video Game Developer Cassidy Schnase.

Beau Biden Foundation warns against video game dangers

Even the Beau Biden Foundation, named after the president's late son, launched a free e-book to warn parents of the inherent dangers of video games for a child.  

"Chances are your first experience with a video game was profoundly different than that of a child’s today. Gaming today happens on devices as large as a computer or as small as a smartphone. The majority involve an online component. Today, gaming is a mix of classic arcade-style competition and the teamwork and collaboration found on the ball field or basketball court. It involves communication and sharing information - things adults typically associate with social media platforms, not necessarily gaming. Online gaming can be a great way for children to learn and develop new skills. It can also be dangerous, if adults do not monitor what children are doing," the guide says in the beginning.

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