Vice President Joe Biden is no stranger to inspiring a meme or becoming an Internet sensation, but his latest display of affection has caused the Washington Post to deem him "the world's most powerful close talker."
At the swearing-in ceremony for Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter on Tuesday, Biden was spotted whispering into Carter's wife's ears and rubbing her shoulders.
Biden had earned a reputation as a close talker long before Tuesday's incident. He famously cuddled up to a motorcycle-riding woman in a photo worth a thousand words in 2012.
Perhaps even more buzzy was the time he leaned in closely to speak to Maggie Coons, the 13-year-old daughter of Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), at a ceremonial swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 6. Sen. Coons quickly spoke out to deny any awkwardness, and said his daughter didn't find the vice president "creepy."
"He was being Joe. He was being thoughtful, and he was being sweet," Coons said to Fox News. "I think she is pleasantly surprised that more people have heard of her than have heard of me.”