Kamala flashes a toothy-grin as she acts as a fill-in for Biden while he gets a root canal

Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Joe Biden at the Rose Garden on Monday after the White House announced that the president had a root canal and was undergoing a follow-up procedure.

With the president out of office, Harris — who has spoken on behalf of the White House on abortion and voting rights in recent weeks — performed a ceremonial duty. The White House welcomed 1,000 student athletes from across the country to the event, which was announced weeks in advance.

Harris, 58, read from a count e-prompter and smiled as he acknowledged student-athletes. She committed no obvious stumbling blocks, verbal or physical, while standing in for Biden, who has called herself a “blundering machine.”

“You show teamwork and character, you make those around you better in every way you can,” she told athletes from sports like college volleyball, baseball, and track and field that don’t always get the attention of the “first” money-making sports of football. and basketball.

“You are leaders, you are role models and of course you are champions,” she said. “You remind us all of what we can achieve if we work hard and are ambitious,” Harris said.

“You are the ones people who come from all over our country, representing every background, look to because we know when we see you. We are at our best when we work together as one team,” she said.

She spoke as Biden was undergoing his follow-up proceedings. The White House announced it would host the event Monday morning, while also pushing back press briefings and postponing Biden’s scheduled meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

“You remind us that we really are stronger together, that our nation is stronger when we stand together and understand what we have in common,” Harris said, using a phrase that was one of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign themes “Stronger Together.” .

It all comes as Biden, 80, prepares to travel to Philadelphia on Saturday for the first political rally of his re-election campaign.

The president tumbled after giving the opening address at the Air Force Academy on June 1, raising questions about previous events where he slipped and whether White House forward professionals made any changes.

At the event, Harris brought on stage Logan Eggleston, a member of the University of Texas at Austin’s NCAA national championship-winning college volleyball team.

“Great, the drama of the rains perfect timing,” Eggleston said at the beginning of her remarks as the raindrops began to fall.

“It really is so wonderful to see so many female athletes supported and recognized here today,” she said, thanking the absent Biden as well as Harris, first lady Jill Biden and second lord Doug Emhoff.

Biden had a root canal on Sunday that was completed on Monday, forcing him to skip an event featuring NCAA athletes.

White House physician Kevin O’Connor wrote in a letter Monday morning that Biden, 80, had a toothache on Sunday and was determined to undergo a root canal, which was performed by Walter Reed’s team at the United States’ dental office. White House.

“He is experiencing even more discomfort this morning, which was expected,” the doctor said Monday. “Walter Reed’s endodontic team is completing the president’s root canal at the White House today.”

The 25th Amendment does not need to be invoked because a patient is not anesthetized for the procedure.

Right after the White House sent the doctor’s note, the schedule changed to show that Vice President Kamala Harris would headline the event with the winning athletes instead of the president.

The College Athlete Day event will attract champions from volleyball, ice hockey, track and field and other sporting events.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff will also be present.

The president previously hosted the women’s basketball champions, Louisiana State University, and the men’s, the University of Connecticut.

As the 2024 race progresses, questions have continually been raised about Biden’s health, as he is the oldest man to ever serve as president.

Earlier this month, Biden tripped and fell during a graduation ceremony at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado.

“I got sandbags,” he later joked, because that was the item on the floor that got him in trouble.

Former President Donald Trump, Biden’s main Republican rival, mocked the 80-year-old for stumbling.

‘Did he really fall? Well, I hope he wasn’t hurt,” Trump said in Iowa.

“You have to be careful with that,” the former president continued, even if you “have to tiptoe down a slope,” he added, making a fool of himself for a moment that went viral in June 2020.

Trump’s slow walk down a ramp at West Point raised questions about his health as he battled for re-election against Biden.

Biden has also climbed the stairs of Air Force One several times and fell off his bicycle during a trip to Rehoboth Beach last June.

That’s in addition to being blunder-prone.

In February, the White House released the results of Biden’s second physical session.

O’Connor said Biden was “healthy” and “vigorous” and that the main noticeable difference was a lesion on his chest that was sent for cancer screening.

In March, O’Connor said the lesion was basal cell carcinoma, a common and non-aggressive form of skin cancer.

Biden did not need follow-up, the doctor said, after removing the lesion.

Biden’s physical examination included a “neurological exam” that found nothing “consistent with cerebellar or central neurological disease,” but no cognitive test, which Republicans have demanded.

Presidential candidate Nikki Haley, the former UN ambassador and governor of South Carolina, opened her bid for the 2024 White House in February with a call for candidates over 75 to undergo “competency testing.”

While much of her anger was directed at Biden, Trump would also fit, as he turns 77 later this week.