Donald Trump Trolls Joe Biden Over Head-Touching Moment With Pope Francis: 'This Can't Be Normal'
By Favour Adegoke on June 16, 2024 at 12:15 PM EDT
Donald Trump has responded to a video showing President Joe Biden in an awkward forehead-touching moment with Pope Francis at a summit in Italy.
The ex-president alleged that Biden "freaked out" the pontiff by touching foreheads during their meet-and-greet session.
Donald Trump recently criticized Joe Biden Biden, urging him to take a cognitive test, and has pledged to end Biden's policies concerning cryptocurrency.
Donald Trump Claims Joe Biden Made Pope Francis 'Freak Out' During Forehead-Touching Moment
Trump came after Biden again, following the latter's viral video of him and Pope Francis at the Group of Seven Summit in Italy.
In the clip, Biden can be seen bowing to greet the pope, who was being driven in a wheelchair for a meet-and-greet session with world leaders.
The duo also had a short conversation and were seen smiling widely throughout the time it lasted. At one point, their foreheads briefly touched, though it is unclear if this was intentional.
President Joe Biden goes in for an intimate forehead to forehead with the Pope at the G7 summit in Italy.
Pope Francis appeared to look uncomfortable with the gesture. pic.twitter.com/7biR5UHL9a
— Trending News (@Trend_War_Newss) June 15, 2024
Trump seemed to find the gesture quite out of place and suggested that POTUS made the pope very uncomfortable by being that close to him.
"Look at the Pope—He's freaking out! This can't be normal, can it?" Trump exclaimed in a post on his Truth Social platform, adding a picture of Biden and the Pope when their foreheads touched briefly.
Donald Trump Recently Asked President Joe Biden To Take A Cognitive Test
The remark from Trump is the latest in a line of sharp criticisms between the billionaire mogul and Biden in an effort to undermine each other's campaigns.
He had previously criticized Biden's mental acuity at the Turning Point Action convention in Detroit on Saturday night.
While giving a speech during the campaign event, the billionaire mogul mockingly urged his successor to take a cognitive test designed to detect early signs of memory loss and other mild cognitive impairments.
"He doesn't even know what the word 'inflation' means," Trump said, per Newsweek, taking a swipe at Biden. "I think he should take a cognitive test like I did."
Trump took the test back in 2018 and was reportedly tasked with remembering a list of spoken words, listening to a list of random numbers and repeating them backward, and many more verbal tasks.
Donald Trump Was Criticized For Forgetting Doctor's Name During Cognitive Test Recall
At the same moment that Trump asked Biden to take a cognitive test, he forgot the name of the doctor who gave him his, referring to him as Ronny Johnson instead of Ronny Jackson.
"Doc Ronny Johnson. Does everyone know Ronny Johnson, congressman from Texas? He was the White House doctor, and he said I was the healthiest president, he feels, in history, so I liked him very much indeed immediately," Trump said.
Unsurprisingly, his gaffe was quickly noted by critics, who slammed him for targeting Biden's mental acuity while he himself couldn't remember the doctor's name.
Biden-Harris HQ posted on X, "Trump: I think Biden should take a cognitive test. My doctor Ronny Johnson. Ronny Johnson, do you know him? (His name is Ronny Jackson)."
A social media user wrote, "Idiot is calling for Biden to take a cognitive test as he gets the name of his doctor wrong. You just can't make up this sh-t."
The Ex-President Backed Out Of Head-T0-Head Press Conferences With Joe Biden
A feeble Trump ends his “press conference” after less than 5 minutes and refuses to answer a single question pic.twitter.com/XK3j3jrErN
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) June 13, 2024
Last week, Trump and Biden's separate press conferences almost clashed as TV stations scrambled to make a decision on which one they would air.
Biden was in Italy for the G7 summit and was about to go live with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky, just about the same time Trump was supposed to give a speech after meeting with GOP leaders.
The brewing clash in schedule made several stations adopt a split screen for both events, waiting on which one would go live first.
When Trump concluded his meeting, he addressed the crowd for less than five minutes but declined to answer questions from the media.
Taking note of what had happened, Biden's campaign team took to social media to mock Trump for his short "press conference."
The team wrote, "A feeble Trump ends his 'press conference' after less than 5 minutes and refuses to answer a single question."
Donald Trump Claims He Would End Joe Biden's 'War On Crypto'
After initially taking a negative stance on crypto during his presidency, Trump has reversed his position in recent months.
Late last month, he criticized Biden for his harsh stance on crypto, claiming that POTUS "wants it to die a slow and painful death" and that such a situation would never happen if he were the president.
More recently, he doubled down on his remark during a special address on his birthday, promising to end Biden's "war on crypto" if elected.
The former president said, "We will ensure that the future of crypto and the future of Bitcoin will be made in America; we're going to keep it right here, and a lot of it is going to be done right here in Florida."
Trump has also introduced crypto as a means of receiving campaign funds, allowing MAGA supporters to use cryptos associated with the Coinbase platform.