Internet melts down after NYT photographer points out Biden was wearing Skechers with no socks

Social media collapsed after a New York Times photographer pointed out that Biden appeared to be wearing no socks with his Skechers before boarding Air Force One for the NATO summit.

The 80-year-old was dressed in a button-up shirt, suit jacket and tight trousers as he approached the plane, but photographer Doug Mills pointed out in a post on Twitter that he appeared to be wearing no socks with his slip-on Skechers.

Hundreds of commenters responded to the post, with many explaining that the shoes are made of breathable material and are meant to be worn without socks. Others said the president may have been wearing no shows.

It comes a day after Biden was spotted on the beach in Delaware with his wife Jill and 22-year-old granddaughter Finnegan. Biden’s son Hunter, who is expected to plead guilty to tax violations, was nowhere to be seen.

Biden left the US for a three-country trip that will be dominated by a NATO summit in Lithuania, intended to show solidarity with Ukraine in its fight against Russia, while Kiev is not yet accepted as a member of the alliance.

Biden’s first stop is in London, where he will meet British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday, then travel to Windsor Castle to visit King Charles.

The talks with the king, which are expected to include climate initiatives, will give Biden a better picture of the man who succeeded his mother, Queen Elizabeth, who died last September.

Biden had tea with the Queen in Windsor in June 2021 and they discussed many of the same issues that are still a top priority today, such as Russia and China.

Biden will travel to Vilnius, Lithuania, on Monday evening, where he will hold talks with NATO leaders on Tuesday and Wednesday. Biden and the allies want to show their support for Ukraine and give Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky an idea of ​​what he will have to do to get NATO membership at some point in the future.

In a CNN interview previewing his trip, Biden urged caution for now regarding Ukraine’s push to join NATO, saying the alliance could be drawn into the war with Russia because of NATO’s mutual defense pact.

“I don’t think there is a consensus within NATO on whether or not to include Ukraine in the NATO family right now, in the middle of a war,” Biden said.

Zelensky said an invitation to Ukraine to join NATO would signal that the Western Defense Alliance is not afraid of Moscow. Ukraine should receive clear security guarantees as long as it is not a member of NATO and that would be one of its goals in Vilnius, he added in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

“I’ll be there and I’ll do what I can to expedite, so to speak, that resolution, to reach an agreement with our partners,” Zelensky said on ABC’s “This Week.”

A centerpiece of Biden’s visit to Lithuania will be a speech he will deliver Wednesday evening at Vilnius University.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that the speech will address Biden’s vision of “a strong, confident America flanked by strong, confident allies and partners facing the great challenges of our time, from Russia’s aggression in Ukraine to the climate crisis’.

One of Biden’s goals during the trip is to show Americans at home the importance of continuing to support Ukraine as he is reelected. Some of his Republican rivals in the November 2024 presidential race have expressed doubts about his strategy.

According to a Reuters/Ipsos survey, a solid majority of Americans support supplying arms to Ukraine to defend against Russia and believe such aid shows China and other US rivals a will to protect US interests and allies.

Biden’s last stop will be in Helsinki for talks with the leaders of NATO’s newest member, Finland, and to attend a summit of US and Nordic leaders.

His interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria did not include questions about son Hunter Biden or the discovery of cocaine in the White House last week.

Zakaria saved all foreign policy questions to the end of the interview, where he talked about how age has become a central issue in the 2024 presidential race.

Rather than argue why he is fit for office or further brush aside concerns about his age or physical and mental abilities, Biden said, “I just want to get the job done. And I think we can do that in the next six years.”

Hunter Biden remains subject to multiple investigations related to his years of foreign affairs and allegations that he used his father’s position for the financial gain and enrichment of his family.

Meanwhile, a new Rasmussen poll released Sunday shows that 58 percent of Americans think President Biden was at least “very or somewhat likely” involved in his son Hunter’s foreign business deals.

Hunter Biden is pleading guilty to two tax-related charges and has entered probation on a separate charge of lying on a federal form to purchase a firearm. He checked a box to indicate that he was not using or addicted to illegal drugs at the time of the gun purchase, even though the timelines detailed in his own book claim otherwise.

The 52-year-old son was nowhere to be seen as the president basked in the sun with his wife Jill and 22-year-old granddaughter Finnegan on a beach in Delaware.

The president and his family relaxed under a recliner under the watchful eye of their Secret Service.

But other beachgoers seemed to pay little attention to the presidential entourage and continued to enjoy the sunny day.

When the Bidens purchased the Delaware mansion, Joe said in a statement that it was the culmination of a lifelong dream.

His main residence in life was in Wilmington, Delaware, 100 miles away.