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Biden Relegated To Back Row On Global Stage In Final Humiliation

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Lame-duck President Biden was relegated to the back corner of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference’s annual family photo in Peru, while Chinese President Xi Jinping enjoyed a prominent front-and-center position next to the host country’s President Dina Boluarte.

This slight against America’s leader occurred ahead of Biden’s Saturday afternoon meeting with Xi, who had been given significant attention throughout the APEC event in Lima, partly due to China’s financial backing of a large new port on Peru’s coast.

Biden, often referred to as a “super lame duck” due to his diminishing influence both domestically and internationally, arrived last to the photo session and was placed between the leaders of Thailand and Vietnam in the back row.

The order of world leaders in the APEC family photo is generally alphabetical by country, though a review of past photos reveals that the positioning isn’t always fixed. For example, during the 2017 APEC summit in Vietnam, then-President Donald Trump was placed in a prominent center spot for two group photos — once in the front row and once in the back row — during the only APEC summit he attended, the New York Post reported.

“This year, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Papua New Guinea’s Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso stood out of order, maneuvering behind Boluarte and Xi,” the report said.

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Biden’s position was a clear indication that world leaders don’t take him “seriously anymore ever since Nancy Pelosi threw him out,” Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) told The Post.

“They probably should have invited President-elect [Donald] Trump down. I’m sure he would’ve been in the center of the photo with Xi Jinping,” she noted further.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-New Jersey) added: “There are lame ducks and then there are the lamest of lame ducks. Biden has been a lame duck since he was elected. This photo is a metaphor for his presidency. A picture is worth a thousand words — and this picture says it all.”

Other leaders who secured front-row spots included Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

The dignitaries wore brown scarves, likely part of the summit’s tradition where world leaders don traditional garments from the host country for the photo opportunity. At the 2016 APEC summit in Peru, leaders were photographed wearing long, brown shawls made from the luxurious wool of the llama-like vicuña, The Post noted.

The White House insisted that Biden had not been intentionally snubbed, though they acknowledged that several leaders were photographed “out of order.”

“It is the same assigned order APEC used in both 2008 and 2016,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett claimed. He cited Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama’s respective placements at previous summits in Peru when both were also in their final year in office.

“This year, a few leaders stood out of order due to protocol errors, but President Biden stood correctly in the United States’ assigned spot,” he claimed.

Biden’s trip has included several minor embarrassments, such as a lavish welcome for Xi and a noticeably less enthusiastic official greeting for the President when Air Force One arrived in South America on Thursday for the 21-nation summit of Pacific Rim countries, said The Post.

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“It’s an embarrassment to our country — under Joe Biden, America is weaker, our enemies emboldened, and the world less peaceful,” said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY).  “Jan. 20 can’t come fast enough.”

Biden, accompanied by his daughter Ashley and granddaughter Natalie, is set to travel to Brazil on Sunday for an aerial tour of the Amazon rainforest, followed by participation in the G20 economic summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Before departing Peru, Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Chinese leader’s hotel for the third and final meeting of Biden’s presidency with Xi.

When reporters inquired why the summit wasn’t taking place at Biden’s accommodations, a White House official explained that hosting such meetings follows an “essentially a rotation” process, The Post said.

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