The White House Provides Explanation on Why Biden Wore a 'Trump 2024' Hat as New Information Emerges

As the presidential race approaches its final stages, it's important to recall that the same party that touts Vice President Kamala Harris as a capable, moderate, and joyful leader who will serve Americans' best interests, also claimed just two months ago that President Joe Biden was fit for another four years in office.

This is relevant because on Wednesday, during one of the rare appearances of our visibly diminished leader, which coincided with the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the White House once again had to engage in damage control — a familiar task over the past four years.

Biden, as reported by the BBC, was “visiting firefighters in Pennsylvania near the site where one of the four hijacked planes crashed.” Given the setting — Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Flight 93 went down after passengers overpowered al Qaeda terrorists — it was no surprise that one of the first responders sported a Trump 2024 hat.

What stood out, however, was who ended up wearing the hat:

And yes, Biden seemed aware of his actions. Sort of. Maybe.

Footage of the event showed the president and the first responder sharing a joke about Biden’s age and whether he could recall his name. The president handed the man, who was wearing the Trump hat, a signed hat bearing the presidential seal.

Then, Biden gestured toward the Trump hat, saying, “I need that hat.”

The crowd encouraged Biden to put it on.

“I ain’t going that far!” he joked — before, of course, going that far, sparking viral reactions:

Andrew Bates, the White House deputy press secretary and longtime Democratic strategist, took to social media to clarify that it was merely a gesture of unity, made by someone who was totally aware of the situation.

“At the Shanksville Fire Station, @POTUS spoke about the country’s bipartisan unity after 9/11 and said we needed to get back to that,” Bates posted on social media.

“As a gesture, he gave a hat to a Trump supporter who then said that in the same spirit, POTUS should put on his Trump cap. He briefly wore it.”

Right. Just a reminder, this is the same President Biden who, after the June 27 debate, saw his campaign begin to unravel:

And just a few days before that debate, his account was sharing posts like this:

Although this rhetoric diminished after an attempted assassin targeted former President Trump at a rally in mid-July, implying that “democracy and freedom are on the ballot” is a more courteous way of saying your opponent is a dictator — one, supposedly, with the “morals of an alley cat.”

But put on his campaign hat for the sake of unity? Sure, why not?

If anything can dispel the notion that Joe Biden has a coherent grasp of the presidency at any given moment, this incident might be it.

While he’s not on the ballot this November, his vice president is, and just a day prior, she attempted to persuade the public during a debate that a Trump presidency would be a grave existential threat to America.

According to her, this wasn’t your typical election like Clinton vs. Bush or Obama vs. McCain. This was akin to an election between French resistance hero Charles de Gaulle and Vichy collaborationist Philippe Pétain, who led France after its occupation by Nazi Germany.

In such a scenario, "unity" wouldn’t involve donning a “Pétain 1944” cap. The White House is well aware this fiery rhetoric is untrue, but they’ve relied on the public playing along — because after four years of rampant inflation, an unprecedented illegal immigration crisis, and global turmoil stretching from Israel to Ukraine to Taiwan, rhetoric is all they have left.

And then there’s Joe Biden, wearing a Trump hat, seemingly unaware that he should simply decline and say, “Look, you have your opinion, but I have mine, and you already know it.” He’s unable to follow the script his own administration crafted for him and his vice president.

Keep this in mind when they tell you how exceptional, bold, and moderate Kamala Harris is, and how dangerous Donald Trump is. Just eight weeks ago, they assured the public that Biden was fit to remain in the Oval Office until 2029.