President Joe Biden is over in the United Kingdom this week, purportedly to build relations with foreign leaders and improve the standing of America worldwide.
But Biden and his wife didn’t do so well with the British Broadcasting Corporation, reportedly kicking out members of the U.K. media company so he could get their table at a pub garden, the New York Post reported.
“Jon Sopel, the BBC’s North America editor, had been sitting on the patio of Treganna Castle in Cornwall on Thursday when he was seemingly surprised by the unexpected arrival of the commander-in-chief and his wife,” wrote the Post.
“A first in my career. @POTUS comes and sits down at a table in a bar next to me and orders a drink. Am trying to act nonchalant,” Sopel wrote on Twitter.
A first in my career. @POTUS comes and sits down at table in a bar next to me and orders a drink. Am trying to act nonchalant #G7 pic.twitter.com/XQecXWIfJL
— Jon Sopel (@BBCJonSopel) June 10, 2021
“How’s it going, Mr. President? You enjoying it here?” Sopel can be heard saying to Biden and first last Jill Biden.
“We’re enjoying our walk,” Biden says.
“Could do with more sunshine,” Sopel says of the dreary day.
“Well, I tell you,” Biden says. “This is so beautiful it doesn’t even need any sun.”
“Have a good evening, sir,” Sopel says as a Secret Service agent tells him, “Can we have some private time?”
The Post reported that the BBC team was “forced to pack up their belongings to give up their table to POTUS and FLOTUS — even though they clearly had the pick of several other tables in the otherwise empty area.”
BBC producer Morgan Gisholt Minard shared her own clip showing her picking up her belongings to make way for the couple. She makes small talk with Biden, who stands with his hands on a chair waiting for her to leave.
“I’m with the BBC, so … good to meet you,” Minard tells Biden. She later took to Twitter to drop her clip.
“There are few instances I’d feel compelled to give up my dinner table… I suppose this is an exception. Welcome to Cornwall @POTUS,” she wrote.
There are few instances I’d feel compelled to give up my dinner table… I suppose this is an exception. Welcome to Cornwall @POTUS 🇺🇸🇬🇧 #G7Cornwall pic.twitter.com/vrktEKk3PK
— Morgan Gisholt Minard (@mgisholtminard) June 10, 2021
While Twitterers mocked the BBC team for moving so quickly, others ripped them for their fawning response.
“Try not to drool too hard over Sleepy Joe. I know you’re from the BBC, but you can do it,” tweeted Ben Kew, an editor at El American.
Try not to drool too hard over Sleepy Joe. I know you're from the BBC, but you can do it.
— Ben Kew (@ben_kew) June 10, 2021
Another wrote: “Penetrating questions. Holding truth to power.”
Penetrating questions.
Holding truth to power.— Austin Williams (@Future_Cities) June 11, 2021
Biden made headlines when he met Friday with Group of 7 (G7) finance leaders, pushing for a global minimum tax on corporations of 15%.
The tax would apply to a country’s overseas profits in an attempt to keep the world’s largest companies from being able to dodge taxes by offshoring profits.
“This U.S. priority is a critical step towards ending the decades-long race to the bottom that pushes nations to compete over who can offer the lowest tax rate to large corporations at the expense of protecting workers, investing in infrastructure, and growing the middle class,” the White House said in a press release.
Under the tax, known as GMT, if a company pays a tax rate lower than the new minimum by using offshore accounts, the company would have to pay the difference to the country in which it is headquartered. “The policy would also potentially affect some major companies by requiring that they pay taxes in the countries where their good and services are sold, and not just where they are physically present,” Fox News reported.