Donald Trump lashed out at Joe Biden in an interview on Wednesday over his successor’s decision not to attend the coronation of King Charles III, calling it “disrespectful”.
It comes as Mr Biden has been invited to make a state visit to the UK by the new monarch, who will officially be coronated later this week. While Mr Biden will not make the trip, first lady Jill Biden is expected to attend the festivities.
"I was surprised when I heard that he wasn't coming,” said the former president. “I think it's very disrespectful for him not to be there.”
Mr Trump was speaking with British broadcaster and former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, and during the interview gave his own reasoning for the supposed snub: Mr Biden’s physical endurance.
"I think that it's hard for him to do it physically...getting over here for him,” said Mr Trump. “But certainly he should be here as a representative of our country.”
For all the ex-president’s apparent outrage, no US president has actually attended the coronation of a British monarch. The coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953 was attended by a delegation selected by then-President Dwight Eisenhower, but not by Mr Eisenhower himself.
And if Charles did view the president’s decision as “disrespectful”, it hasn’t shown in the monarch’s public statements. Meanwhile, the White House confirmed this week that Mr Biden would travel to the UK for a state visit in “the near future”.
"The president was appreciative of the offer by the King and looks forward to that state visit," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a briefing.
Mr Biden’s age and stamina have long been a target of the right, but the criticism failed to stop the oldest president to ever be sworn in from defeating then-President Donald Trump in 2020. The president has also made a number of international trips since taking office, including most recently to Ireland just last month.
Nevertheless, questions about Mr Biden’s age persist on the right and from some reporters, especially as he is now officially running for reelection. Should he serve a full two terms in office, the president would be 86 when he finally left office.
Mr Trump himself was one of the oldest candidates to ever take office when he did so in 2017, a fact which has drawn calls for new leadership and for younger generations to take the reigns in both parties.
