Former President Joe Biden returned to the spotlight Saturday at a Democratic Party gala, sharply criticizing President Trump — though he appeared to need some assistance determining how to leave the stage afterward.
Biden, whose 2024 reelection campaign unraveled after pressure from Democrats following a damaging debate performance against Trump, used his remarks at the Maryland Democratic Party’s Fight Back & Win summit near Baltimore to defend his legacy and take aim at his successor.
He accused Trump of engaging in the “deliberate distraction – destruction of NATO” and derided the White House ballroom championed by Trump as a “vanity project.”
As Biden wrapped up, he returned to a well-worn theme about America’s resilience in the face of hardship — then looked for help figuring out which direction to take offstage.
The former president turned to one side as if seeking direction, then gestured toward two possible exits before settling on a route. He ultimately walked away from the stage with his back facing the audience.
The appearance, held at the Live! Casino & Hotel in Hanover, Maryland, came only days after Biden attended the grand opening of Barack Obama’s presidential library in Chicago.
At the Chicago event, Biden also appeared momentarily uncertain at the program’s close, standing awkwardly onstage. “Where’s my granddaughter?” he called out while moving toward the podium as the event ended. At other points, former first lady Jill Biden was seen guiding him.
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Biden, 83, read from a teleprompter during his Saturday night address, at times squinting as he delivered attacks on Trump, the rival he defeated in 2020 before ultimately giving up the White House in 2024. Early in the speech, he coughed audibly several times.
“Have you noticed that Americans are saying the economy under the Biden administration is a hell of a lot better than under Trump?” he told party faithful in the deep blue state.
“It’s not just his vanity projects – tearing down the East Wing of the White House making room for his ballroom. Putting his name on the Kennedy Center. Building an arch in his own honor. Even hiring his own pool guy to fix the reflecting pool. Woah – what a loser,” Biden said to applause.
He called it “simply stunning to me” that Trump made “billions of dollars” as he returned to the White House, saying “he has no shame.”
Biden’s successive awkward exits come after a long history during his presidency of mangling stage directions, as he did famously at a G7 photo-op in Italy in 2024.
He made no reference to the ideological fight going on in his party after democratic socialists prevailed in three New York primaries.
The former president is battling Stage 4 prostate cancer.
The former first lady has been upping her media profile as she promotes her new book, where she revealed she at first thought Biden might be “having a stroke” during his 2024 presidential debate disaster.
Hunter Biden, meanwhile, has launched an active social media profile where he has been promoting his art and taking on his dad’s critics, at one point challenging Donald Trump, Jr. to a cage match while blasting the UFC fight staged on the South Lawn of the White House.
