'NPC Biden' Memes Resurface After Critics Say President Tried To Shake Hands With Thin Air After Speech

Much like his predecessor, Joe Biden is not immune to having every awkward moment turned into a potential scandal.

This time, conservative critics are claiming the president attempted to shake hands with thin air after wrapping up a speech in North Carolina before shuffling off the stage. The clip was tweeted by the conservative-leaning publication Washington Free Beacon and its claim that Biden attempted to shake hands with thin air was echoed by the New York Post.

After Biden finished his speech, he turned around and tried to shake hands with thin air and then wandered around looking confused pic.twitter.com/ZN00TLdUUo

— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) April 14, 2022

In the above clip, Biden extends his hand in what could be interpreted as a reach for a handshake, though many believed the Beacon was interpreting the clip in bad faith and it was more likely Biden was gesturing to someone in the crowd.

This is the kind of crap that makes us look bad. It's clearly a hand gesture to that side of the stage. Then he gestures to the other side of the stage, then walks off.

Plenty of Biden gaffes, but this isn't it.

— Limitless (@limitlessad) April 14, 2022

This is absolutely dishonest. He wasn’t trying to shake anyones hand. Notice how he looks at one guy, makes the gesture, and then turns, looks at another guy and makes the same gesture. You people are looking for anything to discredit him because the tyrant you support is so vile

— James Angleton (@jamesjesusOSS) April 14, 2022

That looked more like a hand gesture to me. 'Exit stage right' seems an honest misstep too. But hey, let's bash Biden 🙄

— 🌊🌊🌊🇨🇦SAM (@sam_rob2) April 15, 2022

While some conservatives amplified the idea that Biden was trying to shake hands with a non-existent person and others pushed for the less damning interpretation of the clip, a large cohort of memers instead just had fun with the whole thing.

Never let them know your next move https://t.co/7vhklIdv3z

— ⁶⁶⁶ Moral Lloyd ⁶⁶⁶ (@MKULTRADILF) April 14, 2022

everybody saying that "joe biden is just some old white man" needs to sit down & think about how much his election meant to Oblivion NPC Americans https://t.co/zAJbQNCOSC

— sharia morgendorffer (@bobo_circus) April 15, 2022

John Cena refused to shake Joe Biden’s hand pic.twitter.com/JMPIGFC3iF

— Kiana (@KianaKzn) April 15, 2022

Much like the supposed bird poop story from earlier this week, it's likely the "ghost handshake" story will soon be overwritten by some other minor Biden gaffe. At any rate, Biden has bigger things to worry about, such as a poor approval rating ahead of this year's midterms.