Joe Biden was at the Vatican today, meeting with Pope Francis, prior to Biden’s G20 meetings.
However, controversy arose over coverage of the meeting before it even took place. We reported that the Vatican had announced its intention to cancel the broadcast of the meeting.
Jennifer Epstein from Bloomberg noted, too. press photographers weren’t allowed in either.
According to the Vatican, they promised edited video and photographs after the meeting.
They wanted to stop any coverage about what? Did Biden’s handlers request it so there wouldn’t be any coverage of possible Biden gaffes during the visit, to be able to control what went out? Now obviously we don’t know so we’re faced with a lot of speculation. It seems strange to cancel live broadcasts like this.
Below are photos of the official meeting. While the White House described the meeting as “warm” and there were smiles during the meeting, the Pope wasn’t smiling and Biden just looked awful in the official first picture.
Photo of Pope Francis and President Biden meeting at Vatican via Vatican. The White House and press photographers weren’t allowed to enter the meeting. pic.twitter.com/Bg2558nWle
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) October 29, 2021
CNN had videos which they ran with “Live CNN” on them. The network was live from the Vatican but the video wasn’t actually live. The network was live from the Vatican, but they later corrected it by noting that in an other video. “moments ago” at the Vatican.
But even in the video, let’s just say Biden was Biden: rambling and telling weird stories with the Pope looking like he was trying to follow along as best he could with a polite smile. Here’s the edited version.
Things you probably don’t normally do? Make fun of the Pope and take him out to drink. The Pope agrees and speaks about whiskey. Biden presented him with some lovely gifts, including a vestment as well as a coin.
Biden attempts to jokingly joke with Pope Francis about buying him drinks next time they meet pic.twitter.com/0UV43jNRmC
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 29, 2021
Biden shares a story with him about Satchel Paige. Now I think Satchel Paige’s story is a pretty amazing one and he was one of the greatest pitchers ever, even at an advanced age. But I’m not exactly sure what it has to do with meeting the Pope, I think it was a longwinded comment on age. I’m not sure the Pope got it either, he did his best. The translator even had to ask for a clarification about what Biden said at one point because she wasn’t sure.
Biden to Pope Francis pic.twitter.com/p1wZMDxKUr
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 29, 2021
“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?” Biden said, quoting Paige. Biden informed the pope that Biden was 65 years old and that he is 60 under these rules. Biden is 78 and the pope is84.
It’s time to say goodbye to the Pope and translator. They really tried their hardest to keep up with the long stories.
Now while Biden and the Pope are friendly and have a lot of liberal ideas in common, chief among them believing in vaccine mandates and pushing climate change, they also have one big bone of contention – abortion. While that has earned Biden some ire from some American Catholic bishops, it didn’t stop the Pope from meeting with him. Two other times they met. There’s no indication that that topic came up in the meeting. It is possible that the Pope might have a few words in edgewise to Joe’s ramblings. Biden appears to have done one thing that spared the Pope. A different version of Angelo Negri’s conductor story was debunked.
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