After a spate of online trolling, President Joe Biden has dismissed suggestions that he was somehow tricked into posing for a photo with children wearing Make America Great Again (MAGA) hats. According to the POTUS, he was posing with the youngsters to underline his message of unity.
“I think the real issue for those kids that I just had a picture taken with, couple of them had Trump hats from last year, I think, for them, it’s going to be: Are we going to, in the next four, five, six, 10 years, demonstrate that democracies can work, or not?” said Biden, speaking to reporters at the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Company.
Joe Biden had been attending a 9/11 memorial ceremony on Saturday in Shanksville, Pennsylvania when he stopped to take a photo with several children. The photo, posted online on Sunday from an account belonging to Jana Musser, supposedly one of the mothers, revealed that the youngsters were wearing pro-Trump merchandise.
The caption stated that “we can all come together to be united.” Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers also posted the image to Twitter, reiterating claims that former President Donald Trump had won the 2020 election, which had been rigged to favour his Democratic rival.
The viral images led some to suggest that Biden had been duped into posing with the kids. Another offered explanation was that he was unaware the children were sporting pro-Trump gear.