President Biden on Thursday wandered off the set of a live television interview on MSNBC before the show even cut to a commercial break.
With the cameras still rolling, Biden got out of his chair, shook hands with host Nicolle Wallace and awkwardly walked away after she thanked the 80-year-old president for granting her a rare interview.
“Don’t go anywhere,” the MSNBC host told viewers as Biden made his exit, walking directly behind her.
It is unusual for guests to leave the set of cable news shows before the host tosses the program to a commercial break.
The clip of Biden walking off, apparently oblivious that the program was live, quickly went viral.
“WHAT ON EARTH IS JOE BIDEN DOING? It’s live TV!” former Republican National Committee staffer Steve Guest wrote in a tweet.
“The Biden Presidency in one clip,” former Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker wrote in a tweet sharing the video.
Some guessed that the oldest president in US history was in a rush to get somewhere.
“Bathroom run? Biden gets out of his seat before the commercials start and awkwardly walks off-set,” Media Research Center associate editor Nicholas Fondacaro speculated.
“Oh goodness! Joe Biden is really lost,” media and political consultant Jim Pfaff wrote in a tweet.
During the 20-minute interview, the president discussed the Supreme Court’s ruling Thursday outlawing affirmative action in higher education acceptance decisions, arguing that “the vast majority of the American people don’t agree with a lot of the decisions this court is making.”
Biden, however, stopped short of endorsing calls for Democrats to pack the court with liberal judges.
“I think it’s a mistake,” Biden said.
“If we do start the process of expanding the court, we’re going to politicize it maybe forever in a way that is not healthy.”