Joe Biden Critics Slam 'Creepy' Interaction With Child in Finland

President Joe Biden received backlash from his online critics after a video of him interacting with a child in Finland went viral.

The president wrapped up a four-day trip on Thursday, which included the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. He celebrated Finland's new NATO membership that became official in April and reasserted the West's commitment to help Ukraine defeat Russia.

As he was leaving Helsinki on Thursday, Biden took selfies with the crowds and interacted with a little girl who was being held by a woman.

A viral clip of the interaction showed Biden jokingly pretending to bite her as she squirmed away from him when his face approached her. The woman holding the child didn't respond to the interaction. His behavior was widely criticized on Twitter with some conservative figures calling him a "creep" as they shared the clip of the president, who they said made the child feel "horrified."

Joe Biden Critics Slam 'Creepy' Interaction With-child
Above, US President Joe Biden (2R) talks to US ambassador to Finland Douglas Hickey and embassy staff before boarding Airforce One at the Helsinki airport in Helsinki on July 13, 2023. President Joe Biden received... Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

"Joe Biden just simulated cunnilingus on a toddler's arm in Finland," said conservative political strategist Joey Mannarino, while former White House strategist Steve Bannon called him a "creep" on Gettr.

"Looks like Joe Biden brought his creepy habit of sniffing little girls to Finland," tweeted Tea Party Patriots, a conservative grassroot movement.

MAGA media personality and former Trump official, Sebastian Gorka said, "Biden is a creep! Little girl is terrified after Biden bizarrely nibbles on her back and leans in to sniff her..."

However, Twitter user Jandar Morningstar disagreed with Biden's critics, saying that the president is just "an old man playing with a kid."

Biden has been targeted before by some of his online critics over what they call "creepy" behavior. In June, he was blasted after making a joke about actress Eva Longoria's age during an event at the White House.

Biden, 80, welcomed 48-year-old Longoria on the South Lawn for a film screening of the former Desperate Housewives star's directorial debut for Flamin' Hot. He told the crowd gathered outside the executive mansion that he and Longoria have "known each other a long time. She was 17, I was 40."

In a clip of the moment shared on Twitter, the crowd can be heard laughing at his comment, in which he appeared to be attempting to jokingly pass himself off as younger than he is. Longoria would have been seven when he turned 40.

Biden's critics branded him as "creepy" over the remark, with one Twitter user saying that the president "always comes across as a creepy old man." Some on social media also called out what they see as double standards when comparing behaviors by Biden and former President Donald Trump.

"The media thinks it's funny when Biden says it, but if [former President Donald] Trump said [it] he'd be accused of rape," read one tweet.

Newsweek reached out to the White House by email for comment.

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About the writer


Fatma Khaled is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. politics, world ... Read more

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