On Monday, NBC’s Today sent co-host Al Roker for yet another softball interview with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden ahead of the 2024 White House Easter Egg Roll and, while it wasn’t as infamously ludicrous as 2023, Roker still did his part channeling North Korean state-run TV news anchors by wondering how he’ll get Americans to “engage and get out there to vote” for his reelection.
Something Roker wouldn’t be caught dead covering during the Trump years, he began the nearly five-minute chat by asking them how their Easter went. This led to the first of many Biden answers consisting of slurring his words and sudden whispers:
ROKER: Happy day after Easter. How was Easter for you guys?
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Great. We spent it up at Camp David as a whole family. My dad used to say family is the beginning, middle, and end. We had them up there. We went to Mass on Saturday and we had a great Easter egg hunt. We actually take these plastic eggs and put some dollars in them.
ROKER: Oh, nice! A little cash.
JILL BIDEN: We’re still missing one.
Roker shifted to the First Lady with a softball about the Egg Roll: “[W]hat’s the theme this year? This is something close to your heart.”
After Jill Biden said it was again “Egg-ucation” with stations on the South Lawn covering school subjects like reading, physical education, and science, Roker went back to President Biden: “When you think back on — on this time so far, what are one — some of your favorite memories, Mr. President?”
This gave the President the chance to go full creep: “Well, my favorite memories are a little girl who was having trouble with her egg, looked at me — she’s three-years old, said, ‘can you help me, Mr. President.’ So, I gave it a push. That’s my favorite.”
Following an out-of-touch Biden answer about how he loves “opening up” the White House so he can see “average Americans just walking around”, Roker went full Democratic National Committee staffer with a puffball query about how Biden will win this “final campaign”and have the right “message to people about why they’ve got to engage and get out there to vote coming up.”
Biden bumbled his way through that sounded as though he wasn’t running as the incumbent and in charge for the last four years (click “expand”):
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I think people are going to surprise people again. They’re going to engage. It’s an overwhelming response when we’re out on the road. Look, we have tens of thousands of people contributing five, $10 a — a — a pop. We’ve opened up 100 headquarters. We have people waiting to get engaged. I mean, I just think people are so tired of the negativity that is propagated that they just — they just want to get engaged. They want to change things, and I’m optimistic, I really am.
ROKER: When — when people are saying, you know, but Mr. President, I’m feeling — I’m feeling, you know, my buck isn’t going as far, what do you say to those folks about the economy and what’s going on?
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Well, I say we have the best economy in the world. We got to make it better. We really do have the best economy in the world. Jobs are up more than they’ve ever been. We’re in a situation where the lowest unemployment in 50 years is maintained. We have people who are just — but people — look, I think we’re going to find out that what happened is consequence of the crisis we had in health is going to have a lasting effect. I mean, we’ve got to get people to move again. We’re — we’re ready. I think the country is ready to come together in a way that I never — I mean that sincerely. I’m — I’m truly optimistic.
ROKER: Yeah. And how are you feeling going into this last campaign?
JILL BIDEN: I feel great. You know, I’ve been traveling across the country. People are ready to go and we’re going to win this.
Roker concluded by inviting the Bidens to join him for lunch at Ben’s Chili Bowl, but he had one last eye roll of a question for the President about what it’s been like to live in the White House (which elicited another creepy answer):
ROKER: And — and as far as — you know, your — your memories of this house, you know — I mean we’re assuming, I don’t know what — what the future holds, but what are your favorite memories about this place?
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Our kids jumping in bed with us. Our grandkids when they’re down here. Just sneaking up and jumping in bed with us. That’s my favorite memory here. They love it. They love wandering through the halls. They love — there’s two floors upstairs. A lot of bedrooms. It’s a private residence and they just love coming down.
To see the relevant NBC transcript from April 1, click here.
