LATE AGAIN: President Joe Biden offers cryptic excuse for turning up almost an hour late to G20 press conference at the end of two-day summit in Rome, 'We were playing with elevators'
President Joe Biden was almost an hour late for a G20 press conference Sunday and blamed the delay on ‘playing with elevators’ – just months after he was nearly two hours late for a NATO presser.
As he strode to the podium at the end of his second day at the G20 Leaders' Summit in Rome, Biden smiled to the crowd and apologized for his tardiness.
‘Ladies and gentleman, I apologize for keeping you waiting,’ he told reporters. ‘We were playing with elevators. Long story.’
The world leader has developed a reputation for being behind schedule.
President Joe Biden was nearly an hour late for a G20 press conference Sunday and blamed the delay on ‘playing with elevators'
Biden began a June press conference during a NATO summit in Brussels more than two hours after it was scheduled to start.
He acknowledged his tardiness but didn’t explain it.
‘Folks I know it's after 9:30 pm and I'm still at NATO,’ he told reporters. ‘You're all excited about that I know.’
The NATO plenary session earlier in the day ran over an hour late and his meeting with the Turkish president went long.
Biden’s trouble with timekeeping has caught the attention of numerous news outlets.
He was an average of 22 minutes late for public events scheduled from June 1 through mid-October, Fox News reported.
Biden seems to have trouble with timekeeping. He began a June press conference during a NATO summit in Brussels more than two hours after it was scheduled to start
On occasions, he was more than an hour behind schedule, according to the outlet.
During Sunday’s 26-minute press conference, Biden expressed regret that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping didn't attend the Rome gathering in person - after some climate activists called the G20 commitments on climate change underwhelming.
'The disappointment relates to the fact that Russia and... China, basically didn't show up in terms of any commitments to deal with climate change,' Biden said. 'And there's a reason why people should be disappointed in that.
'I found it disappointing myself.'
Biden was an average of 22 minutes late for public events scheduled from June 1 through mid-October, Fox News reported
During Sunday’s 26-minute press conference, Biden expressed regret that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping didn't attend the Rome gathering in person -
He also expressed optimism that the two pieces of his agenda - stuck in Congress thanks to his own party - would make it into law.
'I believe we will pass my Build Back Better plan and I believe we will pass the infrastructure bill,' Biden said.
'But we'll see. We'll see,' he continued.
Twitter users had fun with Biden's Twitter excuse, joking that his 'elevator does not make it to the top floor'
'You know, you've all believed it wouldn't happen from the very beginning of the moment I announced it, and you always seem amazed when it's alive again,' he told the reporters in the room. '
Twitter users had a field day with his elevator excuse, with one quipping: ‘You'd think someone in his 800 person entourage could figure out an European lift.’
Added @FrankScheidell: ‘His mommy let him push all the buttons.’
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