The president shares inspirational tales from his past.
The president shares inspirational tales from his past.
AP, New York City — At an event commemorating the famous 1925 serum run at the beloved statue of Balto the Alaskan Husky in Central Park, President Joe Biden spoke of his long-ago toy Schnauzer, Puddles.
Balto led the sled dogs on the last part of the trip that got a diphtheria anti-toxin to Nome, Alaska, to counter an outbreak of the disease. The heroic dogs made their way through blizzard conditions and -30 degree temperatures to get the vials to their destination.
After a passage of his remarks quoting the plaque at the statue noting “the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed antitoxin six hundred miles over rough ice, across treacherous waters, through Arctic blizzards from Nenana to the relief of stricken Nome,” Biden departed from his prepared text to add that it all reminded him of Puddles, “a hell of a dog” whose paws used to be sensitive to rock salt used to melt snow on Biden’s front walk.
The president said that he knew how the Alaska mushers must have felt because, after one snowstorm, several local pet stores in Wilmington were out of tiny doggie booties that fit Puddles and he had to drive 25 minutes away to find a proper-fitting pair.
“If they weren’t just the right size, some of the salt would get into the booties and still irritate his paws,” Biden said.
“I’m not joking,” the president added.
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AP, Johnstown, Pa. — President Joe Biden’s speech marking the anniversary of the Johnstown flood was abruptly cut short by the White House press secretary today.
Biden compared the flood that killed 2,208 people and caused more than $500 million of damage to the time Hurricane David brushed Delaware in 1979 and caused the basement in his Wilmington home to be flooded by about two inches of water.
“I thought I heard a trickling sound and opened the basement door from kitchen, and sonafabitch, if there wasn’t water down there,” the president recalled.
Biden said he walked downstairs and was taken aback “when the water was almost up to my ankles.” He said he acted quickly to make sure his stack of old Esquire magazines and his stamp collection were secure.
The Johnstown flood occurred in 1889, when the South Fork Dam failed after an enormous storm, releasing nearly 4 billion gallons of water that was traveling at 40 miles per hour when it hit Johnstown.
“I know the destructive power of water,” Biden added. “The musty smell never really went away, and the recovery — don’t even talk to me about the recovery.”
The president said he had trouble finding a plumber quickly, and that, when he finally got one to come to the house, “wouldn’t you know, the sorry bastard wanted to charge $50 an hour — in 1979?
“I said, ‘Look, man, you want to take this outside? Because you look like you haven’t lifted anything heavier than twelve ounces in a long time, big guy.’”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre sprang to the stage and, waving her arms, declared the event over.
“Thank you, very much,” the president said, as he exited. “Thank you.”
The White House said the plan all along had been to end the event 30 minutes early so the president could be on time back to the White House, where no public events were scheduled until noon the next day.
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AP, Normandy, France — Joe Biden shocked a gathering in Normandy, France, to mark the anniversary of D-Day when the president said he “felt he had communed” with the boys of Pointe du Hoc when he and First Lady Jill Biden once went together to a climbing-wall facility outside Wilmington, Del.
“The height of this thing, looking straight up at the wall with nothing to support you except those rubbery outcropping thingies — it’s terrifying when you think about it,” the president said.
He then whispered as he leaned over the podium toward the gathering of dignitaries, “And you know who was the better climber.”
Pointe du Hoc was the strategic point on a cliff more than 100 feet high that U.S. Army Rangers secured in a legendary feat of arms.
Biden said that, after his climbing excursion with Dr. Jill Biden, he was “sore all over” and couldn’t bike for the next two days.
Only about 75 of the 225 Rangers who engaged in the initial assault on Pointe du Hoc were fit for duty a few days later.
A visibly uncomfortable President Emmanuel Macron of France avoided President Biden after the end of the ceremony. A French official who requested anonymity to avoid an international incident said the president of the United States is clearly “a moron.”
Republicans seized on the president’s remarks, but experts placed them in context.
Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said Biden is “the Commiserator-in-Chief with a unique, refreshing communication style that connects with people in an earthy, memorable way.”
The entirety of the president’s remarks was stricken from the official White House transcript, and no official record now exists of his visit to Normandy.