President Joe Biden informed a 6-year-old girl at a Thanksgiving event that he loved her “ears” while giving a speech on Sunday.
Biden and First Lady Jill Biden joined U.S. service members and their families for a “Friendsgiving” event aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. During his speech, Biden informed service members how they were the “backbone” and “spine” of this nation, and went on to highlight his son, Beau Biden’s military service before his passing in 2015.
As Biden started to end his speech by thanking the military members for their service, he noticed a little girl sitting off to the side and highlighted her “ears.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, and I love your ears,” Biden said as he began approaching the young girl, who was wearing cat-costume ears.
“I love them,” Biden added. “They’re really cool. What’s your name?”
The girl quietly responded that her name was Catherine.
“Catherine, what a beautiful name,” Biden responded. “That’s my mommy’s name. Nice to see…how old are you, 17?”
Catherine shook her head as a young boy next to her responded that she was 6 years old.
“Six! And, how old are you, 15?” Biden asked, turning his attention to the young boy. In response to Biden’s question, the young boy informed him that he was 4.
Biden responded to the boy’s revelation by telling him that he was “a pretty big guy” and advising him to “be nice” to his sister because he would “need her someday.”
Previous interactions Biden has had with children have raised some eyebrows. In one instance, during an event at the White House in August to celebrate the first anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden told children that “daddy owes you” and should take them to get ice cream afterward.
Prior to this incident, in July, Biden was seen playfully nibbling at a young girl as he was preparing to leave Finland.