President Biden awkwardly walks off interview set before host is finished speaking

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By Phoebe Egoroff

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President Biden has awkwardly walked off an interview set before the host had even finished speaking.

The 80-year-old POTUS was seen wandering off the set of a live television interview on MSNBC before the show had even headed to a commercial break.

In fact, Biden got out of his chair with the camera still rolling, shook hands with the show's host Nicolle Wallace, and awkwardly walked away after she thanked the 80-year-old president for granting her a rare interview. As Biden made his exit behind Wallace, she told the audience: "Don't go anywhere."

For anyone who watches cable news, you'll know that it's rather unusual for guests or interviewees to leave the news set before the program heads to a commercial break. So, with the internet being the internet, the short clip swiftly went viral.

Many fellow politicians and political commentators took to the social media app, with Conservative communicator Steve Guest writing: "WHAT ON EARTH IS JOE BIDEN DOING? It's live TV!"

Former Republican Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker chimed in with: "The Biden Presidency in one clip."

"Bathroom run? Biden gets out of his seat before the commercials start and awkwardly walks off-set," Nicholas Fondacaro, associate editor at the Media Research Center, added.

Jim Pfaff, ex-Chief of Staff at Capitol Hill, tweeted: "Oh goodness! Joe Biden is really lost."

During the 20-minute interview between Biden and Wallace, the topic of discussion was centered on the Supreme Court's Thursday ruling that banned affirmative action in higher education acceptance decisions.

This landmark ruling holds that colleges and universities are no longer allowed to take race into consideration as a specific basis for granting admission. This decision has previously benefited Black and Latino students in higher education.

Supporters of affirmative action have maintained that it was vital to uplifting marginalized communities and that they would endure significant setbacks if the practice is removed. Former POTUS Barack Obama said in a statement (via the New York Post) that: "Affirmative action was never a complete answer in the drive towards a more just society."

He continued: "But for generations of students who had been systematically excluded from most of America's key institutions - it gave us the chance to show we more than deserved a seat at the table."

Biden argued that "the vast majority of the American people don't agree with a lot of the decisions this court is making."

The President did not, however, agree with calls for Democrats to ensure the court had more liberal judges, saying: "I think it's a mistake. If we do start the process of expanding the court, we're going to politicize it maybe forever in a way that is not healthy."

Featured image credit: RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post / Getty