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| President Biden Wears Trump 2024 Hat During Shanksville Visit |
When President Biden stopped by a firehouse in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on the 23rd anniversary of September 11 earlier this month, things took an amusing turn during his conversation with a Trump supporter.
A lighthearted encounter involving a hat swap and some good-natured ribbing was caught on tape — the video went viral. A supporter wearing "Punisher" suspenders offered President Biden a red 'Trump 2024' hat while he met with first responders and attendees. Biden then responded with his hat, replacing the embroidered logo of Trump with that for a presidential seal. Biden offered, "And I'll give you my presidential hat," to which the man responded that he would trade it for Biden's signature.
The exchange started light-heartedly, with Biden joking, "I am the one who doesn’t remember my name... out of sight and mind, I must be slower than everybody."
A supporter then playfully called Biden an "old fart," a term that the candidate accepted with, “Look at me…I’m an old guy!” The supporter then teased: "You're an old fart, yeah?" Biden fired back, “I know you would. You are my age.” As Biden signed the hat, he reminisced: "He reminds me of the guys I grew up with. Back then, there was always one in the neighborhood."
The two ended the interaction with Biden putting on both his Trump-wearing hat and one of their actual hats, complete with cheers from those in attendance. The fan said, "I'm proud of you now, you old fart." As the interaction came to an end, Biden joked, “Just remember: no eating dogs and cats,” repeating his campaign’s point that America is about rights for everyone. The man then cheekily replied they tasted like "Kentucky Fried Chicken."
Political campaigns quickly pounced on this moment, with the Trump-Vance campaign posting a video showing Biden wearing a Make America Great Again hat and calling it an example of him turning around after his political debate Tuesday night.
The White House, however, played up the bipartisan nature of the moment that saw heated boos from attendees as former President George W. Bush's role in fighting terrorism abroad was mentioned during remarks at an event where Biden declared "politics over patriotism" has to stop by signifying unity on 9/11 — all citing this X explanation from WH Sr Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates: "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." To show goodwill, he handed a hat over to one of the Trump supporters, which inspired that guy to give back in kind to POTUS wearing this ukulele & Trump cap. He briefly wore it."
The stop in Shanksville, a deeply conservative region, highlighted continuing ways to break political barriers — briefly and informally.