On Thursday, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden called into NBC during the network’s coverage of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
Reporter Dylan Dreyer tried to communicate with them, but the Bidens appeared to be experiencing tech issues — as they struggled to hear the reporter on the other end of the line.
“Hello, Mr. President,” Dreyer began.
The Bidens could be heard talking to each other, prompting Dreyer to ask again, “I don’t think I can hear you, can you hear me, Mr. President?”
The reporter waited roughly 17 seconds to get a response while Joe and Jill Biden continued to speak inaudibly, once again trying to communicate with the Biden’s, saying: “Hello, Happy Thanksgiving, Mr. President. Are you there?”
Joe Biden made an audio appearance during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and it went exactly as you'd expect pic.twitter.com/BzgmJyuxQF
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) November 24, 2022
The president finally responded, stating: “We are here.”
Dreyer seemed relieved, replying, “I was so worried this call wasn’t going to go through. How are you?”
“We’re fine,” the president said. “We’re fine watching your parade. You are doing a good job.”
“Oh, thank you. I love that you’re watching,” Dreyer replied.
The president then bizarrely said: “And you are responsible for the good weather for the parade too. That’s the best part.”
“I will take credit for that, yes,” Dreyer responded. “Thank you very much. And just like millions of Americans, you guys watching the parade, what do you want to say to everyone watching right now.”
The first lady then joined in the conversation, saying: “We just want to say we’re so grateful for the people, for this opportunity, for the health that we have now in America, and Joe, what do you want to say?”
“I want to say thanks to the firefighters and police officers, first responders. They never take a break,” the president said.
The first lady added: “And God bless our troops for sure.”
“And by the way, we’re going to be talking to some of our troops later in the day, both here and abroad,” the president added. “I hope everybody remembers. We remember them every single day. God bless our troops for real.”
The Today Show shared a GIF of the reporter taking the call, rather than actually sharing the embarrassing clip of the call, but even the GIF shows Dreyer cringing at the awkward moment.
.@DylanDreyerNBC had to take a call during the broadcast — hello Mr. President @POTUS! pic.twitter.com/anB4DDEhOM
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) November 24, 2022
