Have you ever heard of someone almost ghosting the president? No? Well, this might be a first.
During a Tuesday appearance on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, poet Amanda Gorman talked about a time she almost ghosted Joe Biden when he was the 46th president-elect of the United States.
Ghosting refers to the act of avoiding or ending all communication with someone without giving them any warning that you're cutting them off.
After Biden won the election against former President Donald Trump, his team started to plan his inauguration ceremony, and that's when they contacted Gorman to tell her she was chosen to read her poem “The Hill We Climb“ at the big event.
"When I was told by the inaugural committee that I was going to be the inaugural poet, I danced around in my apartment," Gorman, 23, gushed to Jenna Bush Hager and Willie Geist, who took over for Hoda Kotb on TODAY.
"I looked like a psychopath — like I was just so overwhelmed with emotion and I remember heading out to D.C. and some random number calling me on my phone," she continued. "I was like, 'Who's calling me?' And I answer it and it was, you know, President-elect Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden, congratulating me. And I was like, wow, thank goodness I didn't accidentally ghost the President of the United States."
Gorman — who just released “Call Us What We Carry,” a new poetry collection that hit shelves Dec. 7 — became the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history; she said she was so “happy” and “thrilled” to have that opportunity.
“I felt like that inauguration had so much significance for so many people, so to be able to bring poetry in that way, too, it was just a great gift.”
Gorman's inauguration moment put her on the map. She jokingly compared her newfound fame to that of a certain special wizard.
"Now, if I go into a store or go to a restaurant or walk down the street, I'm going to get recognized," the Harvard University grad said. "They will say things like, 'It's the poet. It's the poet' — which I love. To me, it's kind of like being Harry Potter, where they're like, 'It's the boy who lived."
"And it's just really surprising," Gorman added.
The "Change Sings" author also reiterated her aspiration to become the president of the United States.
"My dreams have not changed even if my life has," she said.