Biden accidentally drops, then awkwardly picks up challenge coin
He’s “Butterfingers” Biden.
The president accidentally dropped and then had to chase a challenge coin as it rolled away from him Monday during an awkward exchange with a senior military officer.
The oldest-ever president had to bend down to retrieve the coin after a failed handoff with US Air Force Col. Ethan P. Hinkins, whom Biden greeted before meeting with a group of Minnesota lawmakers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Biden has given out several presidential coins during his administration, including to Pope Francis and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I know my son would want me to give this to you, because on the back of it I have the state of Delaware and the 261st [Army] unit my son served with,” the president told the pontiff during an October 2021 visit to the Vatican.
Beau Biden, the president’s firstborn son, served in the Delaware Army National Guard and as the First State’s attorney general before dying of brain cancer in 2015.
During a trip to the US in December, Zelensky also received a challenge coin from the president in exchange for a medal from a Ukrainian military officer.
Biden has also given coins to athletes like the NBA’s Stephen Curry and world-famous celebrities such as the Korean pop supergroup BTS.
On Monday, Biden gave a second challenge coin to Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Kristen M. Maloney without incident.
Air Force One landed in the Twin Cities ahead of an address by Biden at a factory in suburban Fridley touting his economic policy.
Biden dodged questions as he exited the plane about whether he was concerned about potential unrest ahead of former President Donald Trump’s Tuesday arraignment in New York City.
Asked the same question later in the day, the president told reporters: “I have faith in the New York Police Department.”
Biden has had a number of precarious accidents when entering and exiting Air Force One, falling at least four times since taking office while going up and down the plane’s stairs.
The 80-year-old president also took a spill from his bike while out for a ride in Rehoboth Beach, Del., last summer.
