Videos posted on social media suggest that a new aide has been enlisted to steer President Joe Biden away from certain encounters and conversations: the Easter Bunny.
Clips recorded on Monday at a White House event show a costumed staffer intervening at least twice, apparently to direct the president away from potentially fraught situations. The first shows Biden talking to a group of reporters, starting to answer a question about Pakistan and Afghanistan, when a giant bunny wearing a purple dress steps in to cut him off mid-sentence.
The costumed staffer gets between Biden and the reporters, waving both hands in the president’s face, at which point the president turns and walks away from the group.
The second video shows the same bunny intervening again after Biden walks over to a fence to speak to a group of children and parents. The rabbit steps between Biden and the crowd and, just as in the first case, waves both hands at Biden and motions for him to walk away.
The interventions occurred at the Easter Egg Roll, an annual event that attracts thousands of children and parents to the White House grounds. Monday’s festivities marked the first time that the event had been held since 2019, as it was canceled over the past two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic.