President Joe Biden whispered, walking across the stage and using the now-famous phrase “lying dogface pony soldier” as he took questions from a standing list of reporters Sunday evening in Hanoi, Vietnam.
After spending two days in India for the G20 leaders’ summit, Biden flew to Vietnam on Sunday to improve the countries’ diplomatic ties and ended the day with a press conference.
In what should have been a show of endurance — Biden is traveling around the world in five days — the 80-year-old commander-in-chief joked that he didn’t know whether it was morning or night and ended the 26-minute event by saying, “I’m going to bed.’
He treated reporters to a story he said came from a John Wayne movie about the “Indians” – not the ones he just met – who don’t believe it when a Union soldier says that “everything will be fine” if they going back. to the reservation.
“And the Indian looks at John Wayne, points at the Union soldier and says, ‘He’s a lying pony soldier with a dog face.’ Well, there are a lot of dog-faced lying pony soldiers out there about global warming. But not anymore,” Biden said. “Suddenly they all realize it’s a problem,” the president said, whispering into the microphone.
President Joe Biden held a news conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sunday evening after spending two days in India for the G20 leaders’ summit. At the presser, he spoke to reporters about a John Wayne movie that featured the ‘Indians’ to make a point about climate change
President Joe Biden took the handheld microphone and at one point left the stage to address a reporter standing at one end of the room
The president had been asked whether he was concerned about the failure to reach an agreement on fossil fuels at the G20 leaders’ summit in New Delhi.
He once used a “lying dog-pony soldier” at a 2020 campaign event in New Hampshire and at a Connecticut event in June, where he also muttered, “God save the Queen, man.”
Sunday’s bizarre moment occurred during a news conference that started more than an hour late and began with the president acknowledging that his aides told him who he would be visiting.
“They gave me five people here,” Biden said, returning to his habit of both calling from the list and speaking apologetically about the list.
“I’m just following my orders here,” he said at another point, looking at his list to call another news organization or name as reporters in the audience frantically shouted and waved their hands to be called .
The questions focused heavily on China, and Biden skipped answering questions as they piggybacked on another question – so he did not address the fact that Russia and North Korea were doing business together, nor did he address Ukraine’s dissatisfaction with the G20 statement on the war, which did not mention a name. Russia as aggressor.
The journalist’s choice also appeared to cause Biden to largely ignore a group of U.S. print and TV reporters focused on domestic concerns, such as his low poll numbers due to his advanced age and a possible indictment of his son, Hunter, for a gun. attack.
Those polls show widespread concern about his age entering a second term, with an AP-NORC survey last week finding that 77 percent of Americans, including 69 percent of Democrats, believe Biden too old to stand for re-election.
This is evident from a Wall Street Journal poll on Monday had similar findings: 73 percent of voters said Biden is too old to run for re-election, including two-thirds of Democrats.
White House aides pointed to this whirlwind trip as evidence that Biden is up to the task.
“It’s evening, isn’t it?” Biden cracked at the top of the press conference.
“This around the world in five days is interesting,” he also noted.
He later joked that the schedule was “not a problem.”
‘I can imagine. It’s evening, I want to remind you,” a BBC reporter joked to the president.
At one point, Biden grabbed the handheld microphone and started walking.
He walked to the side of the stage where one of the five chosen reporters stood, but for a moment it looked like he was leaving the press conference.
Every reporter on the list was a woman, something that was not lost on a journalist from the independent, US-backed Voice of America.
“Thank you, Mr. President. I hope you didn’t think you’d get softballs tonight if all you did was appeal to women,” she told him.
Biden said that was not the case.
‘Oh, I know better. If you sent me a softball, I wouldn’t know what to do with it. I’d probably turn out even worse,” Biden joked.
After Biden answered one of two questions posed to him by VOA, he told reporters, “I’ll tell you what, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to bed.”
But reporters in the audience continued to shout questions, prompting press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to intervene.
‘Thanks to everyone. This ends the press conference. Thank you all,” she said.
As the president tried to answer a few more, loud jazz music began playing over him, prompting Biden to walk off stage — and go to bed.