A BBC editor and his producer say President Joe Biden decided to take their table at a hotel pub Thursday, and posted videos of the incident showing Biden standing at the table as the crew collected their belongings.
What are the details?
The New York Post reported on the encounter that began with BBC North American editor Jon Sopel documenting himself chatting up Biden when the commander-in-chief sat down at a table near him outdoors at the Treganna Castle in Cornwall.
“A first in my career,” Sopel tweeted along with accompanying video. “@POTUS comes and sits down at table in a bar next to me and orders a drink. Am trying to act nonchalant #G7.”
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… https://t.co/f8PCkE9Jcr
— Jon Sopel (@Jon Sopel)1623350674.0
The Post reported, “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.”
Sopel’s producer, Morgan Gisholt Minard, then posted a clip showing her gathering her things to leave their table as Biden stood by, hands resting on one of the chairs, watching and waiting for her to skedaddle as they exchanged pleasantries.
Minard tweeted, “There are few instances I’d feel compelled to give up my dinner table… I suppose this is an exception. Welcome to Cornwall @POTUS.”
There are few instances I’d feel compelled to give up my dinner table… I suppose this is an exception. Welcome to… https://t.co/cdO8YGXoMR
— Morgan Gisholt Minard (@Morgan Gisholt Minard)1623355046.0
Sopel then joked on Twitter that Minard “has never, not once, stood up to make way for me.”
In a short BBC posting that same day titled, “When the US president sits at your table in the bar,” the outlet reported, “You can bump into all sorts of characters at a hotel bar. Sometimes a VIP from the presidential suite shows up and wants your table.”
Sharing Minard’s video, the British outlet added, “That’s what happened to the BBC’s Jon Sopel and Morgan Gisholt Minard while they were covering the G7 summit in Cornwall, UK.
But the BBC crew continued their coverage from not too far away, with Sopel reporting shortly after their table-hopping, “Hope I’m not revealing state secrets but @POTUS drank coke; @FLOTUS a glass of red. Not a beer or cider or pasty in sight #G7.”
What was the Twitter reaction?
According to The Daily Wire, “while Twitterers mocked the BBC team for moving so quickly, others ripped them for their fawning response” to the U.S. president.
Several people also made jokes about the incident, with one person telling Minard, “Get out quick, before he touches you or sniffs your hair…”