June 11, 2021 | 11:08am | Updated June 11, 2021 | 11:59am
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President Biden opted for a Coke during his pub visit, while first lady Jill Biden opted for a glass of wine, according to a BBC staffer.
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President Biden and first lady Jill Biden kicked out the British media — to get the pub garden table they wanted, video shows.
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.
“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,” he tweeted alongside video of him shouting out, “How’s it going, Mr. President? Are you enjoying it here?”
But the BBC team was soon 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 a second clip showing her gathering all of her belongings to leave the table, as the sneaker-wearing president stands holding a chair at one end, waiting for her to leave.
“I’m with the BBC, so … good to meet you,” she told the president, whose wife immediately walked up to the table once the booted-out producer had walked away.
Gisholt Minard did not seem too offended at losing what was presumably the best seat in the castle, built 1774.
“There are few instances I’d feel compelled to give up my dinner table… I suppose this is an exception,” she tweeted. “Welcome to Cornwall @POTUS.”
Sopel teased her for having “never, not once, stood up to make way for me.”
They do not appear to have been moved too far, however, with Sopel later dishing that the president just drank a Coke while the first lady had a glass of red wine.
“Not a beer or cider or pasty in sight,” he said, referring to traditional fare in the seaside town.
While many followers teased the BBC team for not refusing to budge, others came down harder on their gushing response to the world leader.
“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.
Referring to Sopel’s shouted exchange — in which he also said they “could do with more sunshine” — writer Austin Williams tweeted the reporter, “Penetrating questions. Holding truth to power.”
