Piers Morgan shares Hagar the Horrible cartoon panel, here's how it helped President-elect Joe Biden get past 2 tragedies
Joe Biden recently was declared to set out to take on the new role as president-elect, alongside his appointed vice-president-elect Kamala Harris. British broadcaster Piers Morgan wrote an emotional yet uplifting article for The Mail on Sunday, sharing the strip of a cartoon that he said helped Biden survive two "devastating family tragedies." The article, titled 'The cartoon that Joe Biden told me helped him survive two devastating family tragedies – and the phone call that gave me a profoundly moving insight into the mind of the new President', revealed that Morgan had spoken to Biden on the phone in 2015 where the president-elect explained that the comic strip reminded him that bad things can happen "to anyone at any time."
The article starts off by revealing that Biden has a two-panel cartoon of Hagar the Horrible on his desk. It explains the Viking character created by American cartoonist Dik Browne, is seen standing on a rock when a storm hits him, sinking his longboat. The blurb reads Hagar asking God, "Why me?!" to which God replies, "Why not?" The tragedies Morgan speaks about are devastating to say in the least - Biden had not only lost his son Beau, 46, in 2015 to brain cancer but had also lost his first wife Neilia, and the couples 13-month-old child Naomi in 1972. Biden had become a single parent of two sons, Hunter and Beau, at the age of 30. In fact, many thought that Beau Biden would be America's president with Morgan speaking of an article he had written after Beau's passing titled, 'Beau Biden might just have been the best President America will never have.'
According to the article, Morgan had said the president-elect would look at the Hagar cartoon panel, that was given to him by his father Joseph, in order to him get survive both these tragedies. According to Morgan's article, Biden had said, "He [Joseph] could sense I was beginning to lose my faith for the first time in my life. But he wasn't going to let that happen to me. So, he went to one of those Hallmark card stores and bought a rectangular frame with this cartoon in it. It shows Hagar the Horrible being blasted in a boat by a storm and he shouts up at the heavens, 'Why me?' And God replies, 'Why not?'. My dad was always saying to us when we were down about something, 'Where is it written that the world owes you a living, pal? Get up.' This cartoon was his way of saying there is no way to rationalize what has taken place. It can happen to anyone, at any time. But if you don't get up, it will crush you. I didn't fully appreciate the cartoon's message at the time, but it's become such a valuable one to me, especially after Beau died."
The US Sun also reported that the cartoon panel was also visible in the photo that was taken when Biden told Kamala Harris that she was his pick to his Vice President. The picture of the phone call shows the framed cartoon strip right behind Biden's laptop. Morgan's article does give many an insight into the mind of Biden as he ends his column writing, "Joe Biden may now be the world's most powerful leader, the culmination of a 50-year ambition by this inherently decent and hugely empathetic man – and the purest definition of the 'purpose' his son Beau would have wished him to pursue. But I'm sure he would give it all up to be able to hug his son and daughter again."
Most recently, Biden had also said, "Beau should be the one running for president, not me" on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." In his recent victory speech on Sunday Night, the president-elect said that he vowed to "unify and restore the soul” of the nation -- even speaking to his non-supporters sating, "Let's give each other a chance." "Who doesn't see red states and blue states, but United States," he said.