Biden mocks Trump looking at 2017 solar eclipse with PSA: ‘Don’t be silly, folks’
WASHINGTON — President Biden mocked his likely election rival, Donald Trump, Monday by encouraging Americans to not be “silly” by looking directly at the sun during the solar eclipse.
“Folks, enjoy the eclipse, but play it safe, don’t be silly,” Biden, 81, said in a video message posted to X — donning a pair of special glasses on the same White House balcony from which Trump gazed upon a partial solar eclipse in 2017 without the eyewear.
Eye doctors warn that looking at the sun even briefly during an eclipse could cause lasting vision damage and urge people to use the special glasses, which are much darker than ordinary sunglasses.
A White House official paired Biden’s video with the written message: “An eclipse is worth marveling at. But don’t be silly, folks – play it safe and wear protective eyewear.”
The ex-president’s 2016 Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, also used the eclipse as an opportunity to mock Trump, writing on X, “Reminder:” alongside a photo of Trump looking up and squinting.
It’s unclear whether Biden has any plans to view the eclipse, which passes through the Northeast in the midafternoon.
Everything to know about the 2024 solar eclipse
- The solar eclipse will take place Monday, April 8, blocking the sun for over 180 million people in its path.
- The eclipse will expand from Mexico’s Pacific Coast across North America, hitting 15 US states and pulling itself all the way to the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
- New Yorkers will experience the solar eclipse just after 2 p.m. Monday.
- A huge explosion on the sun, known as a coronal mass ejection, is anticipated, according to experts. This happens when massive particles from the sun are hurled out into space, explains Ryan French of the National Solar Observatory in Boulder, Colorado.
- To avoid serious injury to the eyes, it is necessary to view the event through proper eyewear like eclipse glasses, or a handheld solar viewer, during the partial eclipse phase before and after totality.
- The next total solar eclipse will take place on Aug. 12, 2026, and totality will be visible to those in Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia and a small slice of Portugal.Â
The president will be in Madison, Wis. ,and Chicago on Monday, west of the zone of totality — where the moon will completely block the sun — that stretches from Texas through western New York.
Trump, 77, narrowly leads Biden in most recent national and swing-state polls ahead of their expected rematch after the Republican suffered defeats by razor-thin margins in critical states four years ago.
