OAN Brooke Mallory
UPDATED 4:06 PM – Friday, May 5, 2023
Former President Donald Trump has said in an interview that it was “very disrespectful” for President Joe Biden to not attend the approaching coronation of Great Britain’s King Charles III. Trump also insinuated that it would be “hard for him to do it physically.”
After hearing the news of Biden’s absence in the coronation, Trump seized the opportunity to joke around and ridicule him, claiming the current president was way too old and ill to travel to the event.
“Certainly, he should be here as our representative of our country,” Trump said. “I was very surprised, I think it’s very disrespectful for him not to be here.”
“I don’t think he can do it physically, actually. I think that it’s hard for him to do it physically,” Trump added. “He’s got a lot of things going, a lot of strange things happened.”
Biden was invited to attend the event on May 6th, but the White House had revealed last month that he would instead send his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, and a delegation from the United States. In the past, American presidents have similarly declined to attend British coronations.
When Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower had opted to send a delegation instead of attending personally.
Biden’s choice to skip the coronation comes after he and the first lady had attended Elizabeth’s funeral in September. He reportedly later called Charles III to offer his condolences.
The White House reported that Biden also called Charles last month and in conversation, congratulated him on the ceremony, despite his absence from the upcoming coronation.
Since Trump’s 2020 campaign against the former vice president, he has consistently poked fun at Biden’s age and mental capacity.
Biden is the oldest person who has ever been elected president in the U.S. He is currently 80 years old.
If Biden won the upcoming 2024 presidential election, that would make him 82 years old while taking the Oath of Office for his second term.
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