Joe Biden misses photo with G20 leaders after President disappears behind a palm tree in latest blunder
WATCH IN FULL: Cameramen scramble to find Joe Biden as President misses G20 'family photo'
C-SPAN
Joe Biden made one of his final blunders on the international stage last night after wandering off behind a palm tree and missing a key photo-op with world leaders.
The 81-year-old President, who will further extend the record of the oldest person to hold the office when he turns 82 tomorrow, sent cameramen scrambling to find him when he failed to show up on stage alongside G20 leaders in Brazil.
As politicians like Sir Keir Starmer, China's Xi Jinping, Australia's Anthony Albanese and India's Narendra Modi held hands for a gleeful photo opportunity, Biden was nowhere to be seen.
Video from US politics TV station C-Span of the gathering on the shores of Rio de Janeiro started smoothly - but then descended into chaos as cameramen scrambled to find Biden, directing their lens away from the stage and into some nearby foliage.
Cameramen scrambled to find the President as other world leaders grinned on stage
C-SPAN
Dignitaries then began filing off-stage - prompting incredulity from producers, who desperately tried to hunt down the President.
One operator could be heard saying: "Where is Biden? They are telling them to wait for Biden."
"Guys! Oh my God!", another female reporter could be heard saying off camera.
"They took it! He's right there - behind the palm tree right now!", the unnamed woman said, as it dawned on reporters that Biden had missed the shoot.
MORE FROM JOE BIDEN'S GAFFE CATALOGUE:
Biden - alongside Canada's Justin Trudeau and Italy's Giorgia Meloni - failed to make the cut after meeting for three-way talks
REUTERS
Frustrated US officials blamed the gaffe on "logistical issues" - saying the picture had been taken too soon, as Biden was still making his way to the stage from discussions with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Alongside Biden, Trudeau and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni also missed out thanks to their overrunning chat with Biden.
"They took the photo early before all the leaders had arrived. So a number of the leaders weren't actually there," one American official told reporters after the blunder.
But Monday night's gaffe was the second in as many days for the one-term President.
The outgoing President had been caught on camera wandering off into the rainforest just one day prior
POOL
On Sunday, Biden had delivered a speech in the Amazon rainforest warning the world of the dangers of climate change.
Having visited Peruvian capital Lima, Biden then travelled to Manaus, the largest city in the Brazilian Amazon.
But after concluding his remarks, the President ambled off into the shrubbery, disappearing behind some leaves as reporters looked puzzled.
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