World leaders ignore bumbling Joe Biden, 81, as he misses G20 photo... and is found walking in palm trees
By Geoff Earle
Daily Mail
Nov 18, 2024
World leaders were seen lining up to take a photo but Biden was nowhere to be seen
President Joe Biden was stunningly left out of a group photo of the world leaders gathered at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro Monday after he arrived late - and they chose not to wait.
In a signal of how the world no longer bends to the leader of its most powerful nation, the photo went off without him, while other leaders including China's Xi Jinping and India's Narendra Modi gripped and grinned.
The event was played live on local Brazilian television as the culmination of work on a new Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty being championed by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
It also got captured on C-Span, as journalists who were there to memorialize the photo-op were amazed that it went on without Biden, 81.
The leaders were arrayed before a picturesque backdrop featuring Rio's internationally famous coastline, with its iconic Sugarloaf Mountain in the background.
Such 'family photo' events are a staple of international summits and meant to feature unity despite clashes over trade and territorial invasions and threats of war over lethal weapons.
A TV producer who was capturing the moment in real-time provided breathless commentary as it all unfolded.
'Where was he? They're telling them to wait for Biden, guys,' she said in video that got shared on social media, as Xi and other leaders stroll away. 'Oh my god!' she intoned.
The snap was taken and all over in a second with a stunning backdrop of Rio's Sugarloaf Mountain
'Do you see him to the left? To the left of the palm tree,' she exclaims.'Oh my god ... He's behind the palm tree right now.'
Brazilian media carrying the event quickly zoomed in to show the tardy Biden, wearing a blue suit and aviator shades, approaching.
He arrived late with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, getting there right after the photo session ended.
But it was too late. The photo was done, and the assembled leaders would not be saying 'cheese' again for the outgoing president.
Some of leaders gathered there, including China's Xi Jinping, have a long history of flouting U.S. pronouncements anyway.
White House officials did not respond to questions from DailyMail.com about why Biden was late, on a trip that has not featured a presidential press conference or less formal interactions with the press by the outgoing president.
It may not have been an intended slight, but it came as the lame duck president is heading for his final two months in office, with his successor vowing to rip up some of his most hard-fought achievements.
G20 leaders held hands as they posed for a group photo at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro with Biden nowhere to be found
Joe Biden is pictured being told he's missed the photo by his security detail. The president was not happy at having missed the photoshoot
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, from front row left, China's President Xi Jinping and Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pose with other G20 leaders
President Joe Biden could be seen arriving late having missed the G20 family photo which was taken without him at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Days ago at the APEC summit in Lima, Peru, Biden was about five minutes late for the family photo, which featured leaders sporting brown scarves made from Alpaca wool, a proud export of the country.
Biden was pictured near the back of an earlier APEC photo, but aides said it was for alphabetical reasons.
The family photo is dictated by alphabetical order - though Trump got a front row spot in the center, next to Russian President Vladimir Putin, during his one and only APEC appearance in Vietnam in 2017. Trump famously pushed aside the Montenegrin prime minister as he was lining up for a similar 'family photo' taken at the NATO summit in Brussels in 2017.
It comes on a trip to South America that began with Biden ignoring a series of questions about President-elect Donald Trump, as his successor made a series of extraordinary announcements about people he wants to install in his cabinet, including Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general.
At both the APEC Summit in Lima and the G20 here in Rio, China’s President Xi Jinping is receiving an official state visit. In Peru that got him an elaborate welcome ceremony which far outshone Biden's.
Xi was positioned in the front row for the Rio photo.
It was a trip that also had Biden becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit the rainforest. He announced new funds to preserve precious forests and a new International Conservation Day.
But his team faced repeated questions about whether his actions will be undone by the incoming Trump administration. Trump has called climate change 'a hoax.'
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