Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: For once, geopolitical rival Presidents Joe Biden of the US and Vladimir Putin of Russia found themselves on the same page—and for different reasons.
In an irony of sorts, those who heard Joe Biden’s speech on Thursday felt that the outgoing US President looked happier at his Vice President Kamala Harris’s election loss, as did Russian President Vladimir Putin—they found common ground for this cheerfulness in the Trump victory!
Those who heard President Biden’s Address to the Nation on Thursday felt he looked rather happy at the resounding defeat of his own deputy, Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he had reluctantly anointed his successor as the party’s candidate in July.
“He voted for Trump!” Many took potshots at him on the Internet after Biden’s post-election address. “He looked happiest during his speech after Harris’s loss.”
President Biden appeared unusually cheerful after Trump’s re-election victory over Kamala Harris, garnering much attention from social media and public figures.
Trump supporters may be happy and celebrating his US poll win, but outgoing President Biden’s address stole the show as he looked bright and probably “the happiest.” His big bright smiles were even noticed by Donald Trump’s son, who was compelled to believe that Biden was the “only person happier than” him after Trump’s win.
Trump Junior was watching Biden address the nation, vowing to ensure a peaceful and orderly transfer of power to President-elect Donald Trump in January 2025, when he expressed on X what crossed his mind – “The only person happier than me this morning has to be Joe Biden.”
And not just Biden’s smile, a “spring in his step” too, did not go unnoticed.
Even political commentator Ben Shapiro wrote, “Joe Biden is the happiest man in America today.”
Making wild guesses over Biden’s big bright smile, some social media users even joked Biden may have “secretly voted for Donald Trump.”
“Happiest guy in the world Biden, definitely voted for Trump,” one user posted.
“This is the happiest I have seen Joe Biden in months. I bet he voted for Trump,” another tweeted.
Another X user shared shots from Biden’s address and wrote, “Biden isn’t too sad about Kamala Harris losing this election. We will have a peaceful transfer of power.”
Even Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said, “Someone find me a happier person than Biden after Trump won. You can’t”
Steve Cortes, founder of the League of American Workers and a former Trump campaign adviser, wrote on X, “Joe Biden couldn’t be happier that Kamala Harris lost.”
Even before President Biden, his wife, and First Lady Jill Biden, on November 6, stepped out wearing a red-colored pantsuit, a shade synonymous with the Republican Party’s colors, to cast her ballot.
Social media users joked Jill Biden had, in fact, voted for Donald Trump.
A journalist from the Middle East also wrote, “Jill Biden has not gotten over the coup that removed her. That’s a Trump vote right there.”
In October, Jill Biden claimed that dropping out of the election race was the correct call taken by her husband, and it is now time for them to start something new.
During his address, President Biden urged Americans to “bring down the temperature” following Trump’s election victory and sought to console fellow Democrats who were alarmed by the former Republican President’s stunning comeback.
“Setbacks are unavoidable. Giving up is unforgivable,” Biden said at the White House Rose Garden as he addressed staff who were disappointed in Vice President Kamala Harris’ defeat. “A defeat does not mean we are defeated.”
Biden said Tuesday’s election had proven the integrity of the US electoral system and pledged an orderly transfer of power – an implicit rebuke of Trump, who sought to overturn his 2020 defeat to Biden and raised baseless claims of fraud during this year’s campaign as well.
Apart from President Biden, the other President looking happy at Trump’s victory was, ironically, his other bete noire—Vladimir Putin of Russia.
Both Putin and Trump indicated on Thursday that they were ready to hold talks after the Republican tycoon emerged as the victor in the race for the White House.
“I take this opportunity to congratulate him,” Putin said in remarks to the Valdai Forum in the southern city of Sochi after Trump defeated Harris.
Asked whether he was open to holding talks with Trump, the Russian leader said: “Ready.”
Trump revealed he was also prepared for some kind of conversation, telling NBC News in an interview that “I think we’ll speak” as the topic turned to his contacts with world leaders since his victory was announced.
Trump said he had spoken to “probably” 70 world leaders since Wednesday morning but revealed that he had not talked to Putin, who had claimed with a wry smile that he wanted Harris to win.
The endorsement was not taken at face value as Moscow has long been seen as welcoming Trump’s anti-establishment credentials, and the chaos he has injected into American and global politics.
A new book by American investigative journalist Bob Woodward asserts that Trump and Putin may have spoken as many as seven times during Joe Biden’s presidency and that Trump while in office secretly sent the Russian leader then-scarce COVID-19 tests.
Moscow was widely accused of interfering in the 2016 US Presidential election to boost Trump’s campaign against Hillary Clinton, although the Kremlin has repeatedly rejected those charges.
Putin said he was impressed by how Trump handled himself during an assassination attempt at a rally earlier this year.
“He turned out to be a courageous person,” Putin said.
“People show who they are in extraordinary circumstances. This is where a person reveals himself. And he showed himself, in my opinion, in a very correct manner, courageously. Like a man,” he added.