The University of Connecticut’s Men’s Basketball team is headed to the White House to meet with President Joe Biden for the second year in a row after they managed to win the March Madness tournament yet again. As they head off to 1600 Penn, however, a resurfaced video in which UConn’s Donovan Clingan speaks about President Biden being totally “out of it” during the team’s 2023 trip to the White House has been making the rounds online.
In that video, Clingan claims that Biden was mumbling near-incoherently during the visit and that his memory was so bad that he asked for a picture with the team and then, just minutes later, seemingly forgot that he had already taken a picture with them and asked for another. The way Clingan told the story, it appeared that Biden forgot a picture had already been taken, not that he just wanted another.
Posting about the team in one of the pictures he took with them in 2023, Biden said, “Welcome to the White House, UConn – our men’s 2023 NCAA Champions. This team is proof there’s no quit in America. And there’s nothing we can’t do when we do it together. Congratulations, Coach and the entire team, on your hard-fought victory.”
Based on what Clingan said, however, there was more to that photo, or at least the photos in which Biden and the team appeared together, than the smiles that meet the eye. Commenting on what was going on as the team met President Biden, Clingan made it seem like the meeting was quite awkward, both because of Biden’s memory lapses with the photos and because he, while ignoring the coach, rambled for minutes in a speech the team had trouble understanding.
Commenting on that awkward meeting with the elderly president, Clingan said, “We went to the White House, took a picture with Joe Biden. Joe Biden talked to us for about three minutes and then right after that he asked us for a picture again.”
Then, after being asked what Biden was talking about for the three minute period in between the photos, Clingan said that they had trouble understanding him and that Biden rudely ignored UConn’s Coach Hurley. He said, “He completely ignored Coach Hurley. Really couldn’t understand what he was saying. And then he was like, ‘Alright, let’s grab a picture.’”
Watch Clingan here:
Biden, praising the team in a post on X (formerly Twitter) this year, wrote, “Congrats, @UConnMBB, on bringing home your sixth national title since 1999, more than any other team in that time. A college basketball powerhouse with a heart and hard work of a champion – you’re proof there is nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together.”
Clingan, for his part, announced that he will be entering the NBA draft, which will take place in June of 2024. The 7′ 2″ player is expected to be a top-three pick in the draft, with his college career having been a tremendously good one putting him in an excellent spot for a professional career in the sport.
Featured image credit: President Biden Facebook
