The White House claimed Thursday that President Joe Biden‘s decision to don a Trump hat at a Pennsylvania fire station on Wednesday was an attempt to broker “unity” between Republicans and Democrats.
The incident occurred while Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were visiting with first responders and their families in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the site where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed on Sept. 11, 2001.
The traveling press were not allowed into the reception following a Sept. 11 memorial service on Wednesday and did not witness the account firsthand.
“The president gave impromptu remarks about bipartisan unity,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday when asked about the exchange. “That’s what he was talking about, and he talked about it in the moment of Sept. 11, that’s what we experienced. And he said that we needed to go back to that bipartisan unity in the country.”
“He offered a presidential hat to a man who was wearing a Trump hat,” she continued. “He was wearing a truck hat, and he offered it to him as a gesture, and in return, the man said that, in the same spirit, the president should put on his Trump hat. The president did, very briefly, and that’s what happens. It was truly a back-and-forth about the president remembering a moment in time after the horrific incident on that day and how the country would come together.”
Later in the briefing, Jean-Pierre declined to say what Biden did with the Trump hat after briefly wearing it.
“Maybe it’s on my desk right now,” she joked when asked if the president kept it as a gift for a White House staffer. “I don’t know.”
A number of attendees at the Shanksville event were wearing clothing supporting former President Donald Trump.
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The president was photographed on at least one occasion with a group of children, many of whom were wearing Trump gear.
BREAKING: Photo of Joe Biden looking absolutely shook surrounded by Pennsylvania kids rocking Trump and MAGA gear.
Zoom in. The shirts on these kids are incredible. Love this energy 🔥 pic.twitter.com/xT6Io8AGJQ
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 11, 2024
Thursday’s briefing can be seen in full below.