President Joe Biden hosted the Texas Rangers baseball team to the White House Thursday to celebrate their World Series win.
The 81-year-old came armed with dad jokes but bungled a compliment delivered to the team’s pitcher, Nathan Eovaldi, who came to the White House dressed in a spiffy blue suit.
‘Your standout pitcher Nathan, where are you Nathan?’ Biden asked. ‘And by the way, I want to know who the hell made his haberdasher. I like his dress man, I tell you. Looking good, Nathan.’
A haberdasher refers to a men’s clothing store.
Biden also couldn’t resist telling the Texas Rangers that he was a Philadelphia Phillies fan.
President Joe Biden (right) received a pair of cowboy boots and a Texas Rangers jersey from Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy (left) at the White House Thursday afternoon
President Joe Biden poses for a picture with the World Series winners, the Texas Rangers, after telling the team he’s a Philadelphia Phillies fan thanks to his wife
‘I want the record to show I’ve got a little bit of an ability to say nice things because I married a Philly girl,’ he said. ‘Anyway, Philly fans are tough.’
‘And if I didn’t root for the Phillies I’d be sleeping alone,’ he said to laughs.
First lady Jill Biden grew up in Philadelphia and is a huge Phillies fan, traveling to Citizens Bank Park in November 2022 to watch her team lose to the Houston Astros during that World Series bid.
‘She understands this part of the deal,’ Biden went on, alluding to how he had to host a Phillies rival at the White House that afternoon.
To Bruce Bochy, the Rangers’ manager, he noted that Bochy had four World Series under his belt.
‘I told him, he’s going to need another finger,’ Biden said. ‘Or else he’s gotta put the fifth ring on his thumb. I don’t know how you do that man.’
During his brief remarks, Biden also highlighted the local ties of the team.
President Joe Biden asked the audience what he was supposed to do next when he was supposed to depart. He’s captured leaving the East Room after hosting the World Series-winning Texas Rangers to the White House Thursday
‘As you know we’re 50 years since this franchise left Washington,’ he said. ‘You’re back in the nation’s capital as world champions and you deserve it.’
The Rangers were previously the Washington Senators before being moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the early 1970s.
‘You kept the faith. And like your favorite brand, Creed, you took each other higher and higher,’ Biden said to laughs. ‘You really did.’
The Texas Rangers indeed used Creed’s 1999 hit, With Arms Wide Open, as the music for their playoff bid.
After his remarks, Biden was presented with a Biden team jersey and a pair of cowboy boots by Bochy.
‘That’ll give me another two inches,’ Biden remarked, looking at the boots’ heels.
As the event concluded, the president asked the audience what was next.
‘Alright, what am I doing now?’ he asked to laughs.
He was supposed to leave.
Biden did so after greeting several people seated in the audience.
As he walked out, he ignored reporters’ questions about Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump agreeing to at least one presidential debate.
