‘He’s behind the palm tree … Oh my God’: Wandering Joe Biden MIA during G20 leaders ‘family photo’

President Biden was missing in action for what was billed as a “family photo” of world leaders Monday at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

There were confusing reports about why the 81-year-old president missed the photo, with the New York Post reporting the “buzz” beforehand was that Biden would not be on hand “to avoid being seen smiling alongside Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov during the ongoing Ukraine war.”

But afterward, Team Biden blamed it on logistics according to the Post, claiming G20 organizers didn’t wait long enough for him to arrive. Turns out, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni also missed the photo.

“Due to logistical issues, they took the photo early before all the leaders arrived,” an unnamed senior US official said, according to the newspaper.

“Where was he? They’re telling them to wait for Biden, guys,” a TV producer can be heard saying in footage of the moment, adding after the photo was taken anyway, “Oh my god!”

A voice can be heard saying off-camera, “Yup, he’s right there … he’s behind the palm tree right now!”

The RNC Research X account chimed in while sharing some of the footage, “Here’s Biden wandering around after missing the group photo at the G20 Summit in Brazil.”

This is the second time Biden has been involved in an embarrassing moment involving a photograph. On Saturday, he was present for an APEC conference group photo in Lima, Peru, but the man who holds the most powerful seat in the entire world was relegated to the back row, far right corner while Chinese President Xi Jinping stood front-and-center next to the host country’s president.

The White House tried to claim the leaders were standing in alphabetical order, but a 2017 APEC group photo taken in Vietnam showed then-President Donald Trump standing in the center.

As for embarrassing moments, the footage below of Biden delivering remarks during a visit to the Amazon rainforest on Sunday stands alone:

Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story, as seen on X:

Tom Tillison

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