Joe Biden Gave Vladimir Putin A Surprising Gift
After President Joe Biden's gift of a pricey, customized bike and helmet for Prime Minister Boris Johnson made headlines this week — of course, Johnson's gift, a framed printout of a picture of a mural of Frederick Douglass, available on Wikipedia Commons for free, was super buzzworthy as well — now our president's present for Russian President Vladimir Putin has the internet talking.
First, it's worth noting that it's customary for world leaders to exchange gifts upon meeting. And as Biden travels Europe this week, he has clearly made an impression with his thoughtful choices.
Consider that at his summit with Putin in Geneva, Biden gave the leader a pair of custom aviator sunglasses (via New York Post). As the 78-year-old's supporters well know, the president wears similar shades himself. The specific ones he gifted Putin were made by a company out of Massachusetts that has provided sunglasses for the military and NATO.
But this was not the only gift Biden had for the Russian leader.
Twitter has a lot to say about Joe Biden's gift for Vladimir Putin
As CNN reports, President Biden not only gave Vladimir Putin a pair of shades, but he also presented the leader with a crystal sculpture of an American bison, which was created by Steuben Glass in New York.
Interestingly, we don't yet know what Putin gave Biden. We do know however what Twitter thinks about the gesture of the glasses. "That's how you throw some serious shade. Biden for the win," one person tweeted, referencing the obvious friction between the two countries.
"And you know Vlad would otherwise want to wear them but now he probably can't because of who gave them to him," joked another Twitter user.
"Now Putin doesn't have to worry the sun getting in the way of his watching Sarah Palin from his house," someone else joked.
Finally, another commenter tweeted, "Pres. Biden gifted Putin with a pair of custom-made Aviator sunglasses, throwing a bit of subterfuge shade if you will. Cause y'all know Putin will never be able to pull off that look as well as Biden does."