RIO DE JANEIRO — President Biden missed a group photo of world leaders at the G20 summit on Monday — as a perplexed pool reporter could be heard telling colleagues that the commander in chief was “behind the palm tree!”
Biden, 81, skipped the family picture after buzz ahead of time that he would do so to avoid being seen smiling alongside Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov during the ongoing Ukraine war.
The White House blamed “logistical issues” afterward and said it was simply a matter of bad timing that Biden missed the photo.
“Oh my God… they took it!” an American journalist was heard uttering on the pooled video feed after other leaders clasped hands and smiled without the retiring commander in chief.
“Yup, he’s right there … he’s behind the palm tree right now!” the unidentified reporter alerted her peers.
Biden’s spokespeople insisted afterward that G20 organizers didn’t wait long enough for him to arrive alongside Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau, who also missed the photo, as did Italian PM Giorgia Meloni.
“Due to logistical issues, they took the photo early before all the leaders arrived,” an unnamed senior US official told the press pool.
Biden earned more awkward headlines after being relegated to the back corner of the APEC conference group photo in Lima, Peru, on Saturday — as Chinese President Xi Jinping took a front-and-center spot alongside the host country’s president, Dina Boluarte.
The White House expressed indignation over widespread coverage of the optics of that photo, insisting that it was merely a matter of standing in alphabetical order — despite then-President Donald Trump appearing in the center of two group photos at the APEC conference in Vietnam in 2017.
While in Peru, Biden experienced a number of other unflattering optical incidents involving Xi, who received a far more elaborate welcome as he inaugurated a massive new port on Peru’s coast.
Biden had to travel to Xi’s hotel for a bilateral meeting, with the White House attributing the slight to supposed locale-switching among the hosts.
Biden was then forced to travel to the Lima airport among spectators who lined the streets to wave Chinese flags.
The outgoing president’s pictures have emerged as major stories, as he has refused to engage with any press questions about other matters during his travel — leaving exasperated journalists to shout across the tarmac asking why he was hiding and even holding placards that read “Ukraine?” and “Xi?”
Biden has not taken any media questions since the Nov. 5 election, in which Vice President Kamala Harris lost to former President Donald Trump, who will take office Jan. 20.
