HELSINKI, FINLAND: US President Joe Biden was recently called out on social media after a video of him pretending to gobble up a little girl made the rounds online. The president was reportedly in Helsinki following the NATO summit in Lithuania and engaged with the child while preparing to fly back to Washington from Europe. In the clip, Biden could be seen attempting to interact with the little girl, who was perched in her mother's arms.
The video showed Biden leaning towards the child on the tarmac at Helsinki airport and moving his mouth pretending to act like he would gobble her up. While the girl's mother and another man could be seen laughing at the exchange, the child was visibly left disturbed. At one point, she was seen turning away from the president while squirming in her mother's arms while the latter tried to take a selfie.
Shortly after, Biden could be seen doing what seemed like nuzzling the child or sniffing her hair. He then walked away and was greeted by other bystanders while the child continued to sulk in her mother's arms.
'The Baby’s face says it all'
As the video of Biden's bizzare interaction with child went viral online, several social media users took to Twitter to call out the president. "I am extremely uncomfortable watching these clips. Embarrassed really," one wrote. "WHAT. IS. HE. DOING???" one asked. "Sniffing," one replied. "I'm surprised the parents are not appalled," one commented. "Inappropriate," a fifth user simply wrote.
One dubbed it, "Totally inappropriate behavior" while another said, "This is not normal behavior." One user noticed, "That little girl is absolutely terrified" while another stated, "The Baby’s face says it all."
'So weird'
Some social media users also took to Facebook to criticize Biden's action. "This is so wrong he shouldn’t be in office," one said. "So weird and really inappropriate behavior for the President of the US! It’s embarrassing!" another wrote. "Does he have no idea of personal space...this child has no idea who this person is.." one asked. "What an embarrassment.." a fourth commented.
One said, "How disgusting and inappropriate this is for him to do this to a total stranger's child. I don't understand why the parents of these children he is always sniffing and pawing all over just stand there and act like this is normal behavior. If anyone did this to their child in a store, they probably tell them to get away from their child," while another mentioned, "Inappropriate actions poor child is frightened."