Natalie Barr brutally snubbed by US President Joe Biden on Sunrise
Natalie Barr was flat-out ignored by Joe Biden after asking the US president a prickly question on-air while stationed outside the White House.
Sunrise host Natalie Barr managed to get within earshot of Joe Biden on the eve of the election, but her prickly question was met with radio silence from the outgoing US President.
The Channel 7 presenter was broadcasting from the White House in Washington, DC Tuesday when Mr Biden’s helicopter Marine One landed on the South Lawn.
“This is about as close as you’ll ever get to the President of the United States. Joe Biden’s right there,” Barr excitedly declared over the deafening helicopter blades, her hair blowing wildly in the wind.
“[He’s] walking to the Oval Office. We don’t think he’s going to speak,” Barr continued, before yelling out her question. “Mr President, are you sorry you called Trump supporters garbage?”
Despite the large press pack screaming their own questions, Barr caught the direct attention of Mr Biden, who could be seen looking at the Seven host before turning his head away.
Barr was referencing comments Mr Biden controversially made last week during a Zoom call with non-profit organisation Voto Latino.
During the interview, Mr Biden was discussing pro-Trump comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s “hateful rhetoric” about Puerto Rico. Hinchcliffe controversially called the territory a “floating island of garbage” while warming up the crowd at a Trump rally in New York late October, in comments which have since been denounced by the Trump campaign.
Afterwards, Mr Biden was quoted as saying, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his [Mr Trump’s] supporters.”
But the president has disputed claims he was referring to Mr Trump’s support base broadly as “garbage”, instead, claiming he was singling out Hinchcliffe.
It seems Mr Biden wasn’t eager to be drawn into the narrative after causing a stir with his comments, with the president flat out ignoring Barr’s question.
Speaking about the moment on Sunrise after it happened, Barr insisted Mr Biden would’ve heard her question.
“He put his head down the other way, like away from us,” Barr said.
“I mean, other reporters were calling out things too. I don’t know what they were saying. Mine was quite loud. He put his head down. He just headed for the Oval Office. He ignored me.”
Hours from now, polling stations will open across the US, and voters will choose between former president Mr Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
About 75 million people, almost half of the likely electorate, have already voted early.
The polls remain incredibly close, with conflicting data in most of the swing states, though a prominent one published today could rattle one of the campaigns.
The two candidates are holding the traditional late flurry of campaign events. Mr Trump is crisscrossing between multiple battleground states, while Ms Harris has decided to stick to Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes may decide the entire election.
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