White House, Obama team dispute characterization of fundraiser video

The White House and former President Obama’s team disputed the characterization that President Biden froze up on stage at a Los Angeles fundraiser and had to be led off the stage by the former president.

The New York Post wrote about the video of Biden under the headline “Biden appears to freeze up, has to be led off stage by Obama at mega-bucks LA fundraiser.”

Biden was in California on Saturday for a fundraiser that reportedly brought in more than $30 million, Mediaite reported.

The event was hosted by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. At the end of the event, both Obama and Biden were leaving the stage, waving goodbye to the crowd. Obama grabs Biden by the hand and pats him on the back before they walk away.

The Hill has reached out to the Biden-Harris campaign for comment, but senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates denied the New York Post’s characterization of what happened.

“Fresh off being fact checked by at least 6 mainstream news organizations for lying about President Biden with cheap fakes, Rupert Murdoch’s sad little super pac, the New York Post, is back to disrespecting it’s readers and itself once again by pretending the President taking in an applauding crowd for a few seconds is somehow wrong,” Bates’s statement said. “Their ethical standards could deal with a little unfreezing.”

In a post on the social media platform X, Eric Schultz, Obama’s senior adviser, reposted the New York Post’s article and said “this did not happen.”