“Parks and Recreation” star Aubrey Plaza said she had a bone to pick with President Biden, detailing the rocky relationship the two have shared over several years.
The 38-year-old Delawarean actress told The New Yorker’s Tyler Foggat in an interview published Friday that she and Biden had crossed paths multiple times throughout her life, and the instances she described were unsavory.
“I have [met him]. Many times. Me and Joe? Come on! The first time I met him, I was sixteen. I was at the Joe Biden youth-leadership conference. That was a very competitive situation, as a high-school student, to get into—they picked one student from, I believe, every high school,” she said.
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Aubrey Plaza attends the 75th Directors Guild of America Awards at The Beverly Hilton on February 18, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
“The whole point of the conference was to allow students to speak out on different issues,” she added. “They shuttled us from room to room, and there was a different speaker in each room, and it was all leading up to this climax where we were going to sit in the auditorium, and Joe himself was going to get up on stage and give his speech.”
Plaza said she was angry about the conference since students were expected to sit and listen to speakers instead of being given a space to speak for themselves.
She also said she made Biden’s face red when he asked her how the entire thing went.
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U.S. President Joe Biden announces his budget proposal for fiscal year 2023, as Office of Management and Budget (OMB). (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
“I had a stare-down with Joe Biden from the audience, because he asked how it went, and I raised my hand immediately, and I was, like, ‘It’s bulls—. This conference sucks. You didn’t let us talk. This was supposed to be about the students,’” she said.
“He did not like it. I remember his face got really red. He used to get really fiery when he would make speeches. It was crazy.”
Plaza didn’t just cross paths with Biden at the conference, however.
She told Foggat in the recent interview that filming a “Parks and Recreation” episode set to include then-Vice-President Biden led her to cross paths with him at the White House years later.
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“Ms. Knope Goes to Washington” Episode 501 — Pictured: (l-r) Chris Pratt as Andy, Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate, Vice President Joe Biden, Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt, Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, Mike Schur. (Photo by: David Giesbrecht/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
“Before the tour, I saw him, and he knew my name… Whenever I see him, he always tells me the same story. His first wife went to the same high school that I went to, so he always tells me about how he used to wait outside the convent for her, because it’s an all-girls Catholic school—and it’s a very sweet story, but I’ve heard it a lot. I was, like, ‘I know, Joe! She went to Ursuline!’”
To spoil the meeting, Plaza said she stole a note from Biden’s desk detailing their past connections – including their tie from the youth leadership conference – after she realized he only remembered her because he had been briefed prior to their conversation.
“I was, like, ‘I knew it! He doesn’t remember me at all!'” she said. “I pocketed it, and Mike Schur, the creator of ‘Parks and Rec,’ was horrified. He was, like, ‘You cannot steal from the White House!’ And I was, like, ‘I don’t give a s—! I know what he did! He didn’t know me!’”
Plaza said she has since lost the note she stole from Biden’s desk.
