Biden’s most awkward G-7 moments

Coming out of the pandemic’s social isolation, many people are somewhat rusty when it comes to social skills. President Joe Biden is no different. This past weekend’s G-7 Summit was the first time world leaders traveled internationally to meet in person since the beginning of the pandemic.

Here are Biden’s most awkward moments from the G-7 Summit.

GLOBAL MINIMUM TAX SPARKS CONTROVERSY AS G-7 KICKS OFF

The picture everyone took at the beginning

To begin the conference on Friday, attendees took a socially distanced photo when they all arrived at the venue.

Despite all of them being vaccinated, the leaders stood 6 feet apart from each other and posed on two separate platforms on a beach in Carbis Bay, the host city on the westernmost peninsula of Britain.

Twitter users had a field day mocking Biden and the other leaders when the picture was posted, comparing them to action figures and a band album cover.

Telling Boris Johnson to introduce the president of South Africa when he already did

Biden interrupted British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and received a correction from the Downing Street resident for his troubles on Saturday.

He thought Johnson neglected to introduce President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa before starting the panel’s roundtable.

“And the president of South Africa,” Biden told Johnson.

“‘And the president of South Africa,’ as I said earlier on,” Johnson replied. While Johnson was correcting him, Biden made a gesture toward Ramaphosa as if to say: “I got you, man.”

“Oh, you did,” Biden added.

“Yes, I certainly did,” Johnson told Biden.

Losing his way after he took an impromptu question

After finishing a meal in between meetings Friday, a reporter seemed to surprise Biden with a question about how discussions were going, video showed.

“No, no, no, come on,” said first lady Jill Biden as she rushed in to save him from another blunder. The first lady took the president’s hand and led him away from the reporter.

“Nice seeing you,” Jill Biden told the people dining near the president as the couple walked away.

Wearing shades to meet Queen Elizabeth II

Biden wore dark sunglasses that obscured his eyes in an audience at Windsor Castle on Sunday with Queen Elizabeth II regarding future meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Royal protocol dictates that one must remove sunglasses during a meeting with the queen, according to a former royal butler.

“We had a great talk. She wanted to know what the two leaders that I … the one I’m about to meet with, Mr. Putin, and she wanted to know about Xi Jinping, and we had a long talk, and she was very generous,” Biden said after the meeting.

This statement from the president may have broken another protocol.

“It has nonetheless been a rule that an audience with the queen is strictly private, and to reveal its contents is a breach of trust,” said royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams.

Saying the queen reminded him of his mother

If wearing sunglasses and revealing the contents of a meeting breaks royal protocol, it is interesting to imagine how much trouble a visitor can cause by saying the queen reminded him of his mother.

Biden did just that on Sunday after the meeting when he was talking to reporters.

“I don’t think she’d be insulted, but she reminded me of my mother in terms of the look of her and, you know, just the generosity,” he said.

It is likely his mother has never insisted on cutting a cake with a sword as the queen did at an event Saturday outside of the summit.

Getting in trouble with his staff because of a press conference

There is a serious amount of speculation about how closely Biden’s staff monitors his taking questions during press conferences in terms of how many he should take and what reporters he should recognize.

Sunday’s post-summit press conference seemed to vindicate those who believe Biden’s staff dictates how much he talks to the media.

“I’m gonna get in trouble with my staff, but go ahead. Pretend I didn’t answer you,” Biden said, taking one last question from a member of the press corps.

“Now, why don’t I take some of your questions? And I’m told, Jonathan, I’m supposed to talk — recognize you first,” he said at the beginning of questions. The White House transcript does not include the full name of the reporter.

Confusing Syria with Libya three times

Biden was about 1,400 miles west of where he meant to be during his answer to a question from the same press conference regarding sanctions on Russia.

Biden confused Libya and Syria three times in his answer.

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“For example, in Libya, we should be opening up the passage to be able to go through and provide food assistance and economic assistance — I mean, vital assistance to a population that’s in real trouble. … The rebuilding of Syria, of Libya, you know, this is, they’re there. … I’m hopeful that we can find an accommodation where we can save the lives of people in, for example, in Libya,” he said.