Video of Joe Biden Leaving Stage at Hollywood Fundraiser Sparks Criticism

A video of President Joe Biden leaving the stage with former President Barack Obama at the end of a fundraiser on Saturday night in Los Angeles is garnering criticism and attention on social media.

The footage, first shared on Sunday by The Hollywood Reporter‘s Chris Gardner, on X, formerly Twitter, shows Biden, flanked by Obama and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, standing still on stage as the crowd applauds for approximately 10 seconds before Obama reaches for Biden then walks with him off the stage.

Gardner’s video has over 600,000 views as of 5:40 p.m. ET on Sunday. The viral video clip has now been shared by a host of popular social media accounts, mostly by vocal critics of the president.

“Biden froze again last night and had to get escorted out by Obama. Is this normal?” the conservative @endwokeness account asked on X.

“Biden freezes before Obama grabs his arm and leads him off stage. Yikes!” the RNC Research X account wrote.

“So embarrassing. The Democrats can’t let this go on, surely?” British journalist Piers Morgan asked.

Newsweek has emailed the Biden campaign Sunday afternoon for comment. This article will be updated with any provided statements.

Meanwhile, members of Biden’s campaign team and staff also weighed in on the video.

Rufus Gifford, the finance chair for the Biden-Kamala Harris 2024 campaign, disputed the accusations that Biden “froze” while reposting a New York Post article about the viral moment.

“Nothing remotely close to this actually happened,” Gifford wrote Sunday on X.

Andrew Bates, White House senior deputy press secretary, also took aim at the perception of the clip.

“By pretending the President taking in an applauding crowd for a few seconds is somehow wrong, all they’re really admitting is – once again – is they can’t take on the leadership that’s fueling the strongest economic growth in the world & bringing violent crime to a 50 year low,” he posted to X.

Journalist Olga Nesterova posted a video on X showing the end of the fundraiser from an angle that zooms into Biden, Obama and Kimmel. A smiling Biden is shown pumping his fist to the applauding audience. However, the video shared by Nesterova zooms out as Biden begins to stand still before exiting the stage.

Biden’s Hollywood fundraiser took in a record $30 million-plus for a Democratic candidate, according to his campaign. George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand were among those who took the stage at the Peacock Theater.

At the conclusion of Saturday’s star-studded fundraiser, Kimmel interviewed Biden and Obama, who both stressed the need to defeat former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee in this year’s election.

According to the Associated Press, Kimmel asked if the country was suffering from amnesia about Trump, to which Biden responded, “All we gotta do is remember what it was like” when he [Trump] was in the White House.

This weekend’s viral moment comes amid ongoing questions related to the age and mental fitness of Biden, 81, and Trump, 78.

On the campaign trail, Trump and Biden have made a series of gaffes that have been criticized.

Last week, a video of Biden appearing to freeze at a Juneteenth event also raised questions. On Saturday night, Trump confused his previous White House doctor’s name while challenging Biden to a cognitive test.

Biden, the oldest person ever to be president, faces accusations that he lacks the mental fitness for the position. Detractors have pointed to his verbal gaffes and frailty, such as stumbling on the steps of Air Force One, as evidence for his incapability.

Biden has consistently dismissed concerns about his age stating that his “memory is fine,” following February’s release of special counsel Robert Hur’s report that described the president as an “elderly man with a poor memory.”

In October 2023, Biden was interviewed by Hur in his investigation of classified documents found at the president’s Delaware home at his Washington, D.C., office. Hur ultimately decided not to criminally charge Biden.

Trump has also repeatedly denied any mental or physical decline and has instead continuously seized on Biden’s slip-ups, saying his mental abilities are a major issue in his ability to govern.

In an email response to Newsweek on Sunday, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung shared a statement from Karoline Leavitt, national spokeswoman for Trump’s Super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc.

“It’s not about age, it’s about mental competence. Anyone who spends time with President Trump, watches his frequent hostile media interviews or his hours-long speeches, knows that he’s sharp as a tack with elite stamina and ready to lead our country back to greatness,” the statement from Leavitt read in part.