President Joe Biden had a spring in his step after championing a string of successes at a Friday press briefing.
Biden stopped in for an impromptu Q-and-A during Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s routine briefing, kicking the session off with a nod to the briefing room’s roots.
“Hey folks, my name is Joe Biden,” he said as he surprised reporters. “Welcome to the swimming pool.”
Biden dropped out of the race in July following a disastrous debate performance that left party members and Democratic voters unsure if Biden was a viable candidate. He passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris, who saw an immediate surge in support.
The president was on-hand to crow about a string of economic successes, including the end of a longshoremen’s strike and an unexpectedly sunny jobs report.
Biden threw shots at Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who suggested without proof on Friday that the September employment data was falsified.
“I’m gonna be very careful here. If you notice, anything MAGA Republicans don’t like, they call fake,” Biden said. “The job numbers are what the job numbers are. They’re real.”
“Do you want to reconsider dropping out of the race?” a pool reporter asked as Biden left the briefing.
“I’m back in!” Biden quipped.
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