PHILADELPHIA — President Biden lashed out Wednesday at a reporter who asked if he planned to complete a full second term or hand over power to Vice President Kamala Harris sometime before January 2029 — before speaking to a rally at a half-full school gym.
“Are you OK?” the 81-year-old president shouted in response across the tarmac at Philadelphia International Airport, pointing his finger at his head.
“Are you all right? You’re not hurt, are you?” Biden added, addressing the pool reporter who asked the question.
The reporter then asked if the president could “approach,” due to the difficulty in hearing the answer.
“I said, are you OK? Did you fall on your head or something?” Biden shouted again across the tarmac, drawing laughter from his entourage, which included Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.)
Republicans regularly argue that a vote for Biden is akin to voting for Harris to take over in the Oval Office, since Biden will be 86 even if he manages to complete a full term — and polls show most Americans are concerned about his ability to complete an eight-year presidency.
Biden returned to his birth state for a rally with Harris, 59, at Girard College targeting black voters ahead of his Nov. 5 rematch against former President Donald Trump.
“If he [Trump] wins a second term, he’s gonna go even further,” Harris said in her warm-up remarks.
“Who sits in the White House matters.”
The president slammed his predecessor as “clearly unhinged” and told his audience that Trump “wanted to tear gas you” during Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020.
At one point, Biden mused about what Trump would have done “if black Americans had stormed the Capitol” during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.
“Because black Americans voted, Kamala and I are president and vice president!” Biden declared before vowing to “sign the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and make Roe v. Wade the law of the land again” in a second term.
A Biden campaign official estimated that the Girard College event drew 1,000 attendees, who filled about half of the prep school gymnasium’s floor and seating areas.
It was not immediately clear why attendance for the event was limited, though other public events featuring Biden have been dogged by hecklers denouncing his support for the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.
