Biden’s call to Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade becomes chilling TV moment

WASHINGTON — President Biden thanked first responders with a cumbersome phone call at Thursday’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade that provided pathetic television for viewers of the annual parade.

From the island of Massachusetts, home of private equity billionaire David Rubenstein, President and First Lady Jill Biden answered a call that began with a long and awkward silence as NBC’s Dylan Dryer, who was at the parade , the couple seemed unable to hear about 30 seconds.

“I’m not one to take a phone call while watching TV, but I think I should answer this one,” Dreyer said.

“Hello, Mr. President?” said the reporter.

But no one answered as Jill Biden could be heard faintly in the background after seconds of dead air and confusion.

“I don’t think I can hear you…” Dreyer then said. “Can you hear me, Mr. President.”

Then Biden was heard saying something to the first lady, and then Dreyer chimed in, “Hello? Happy Thanksgiving, Mr. President. Are you there?”

AFP via Getty Images

AFP via Getty Images

AFP via Getty Images

That seemed to catch Biden’s attention, and he replied, “We’re here.”

“I want to say thank you to the firefighters and police officers, the first responders,” Biden said when the connection finally became clear. “They never take a break.”

The first lady jumped in, adding, “And God bless our troops certainly.”

“And by the way, we’ll be speaking to some of our troops here and abroad later in the day. I hope everyone remembers this,” the President said. “We remember her every day. God truly bless our troops.”

It was the second year the Bidens called the annual parade, which this year features 27 giant balloons and 31 floats.

The pair are scheduled to call US service members Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET. But first, they visited a fire station in Nantucket with grandson Beau, 2.

The Bidens brought over some pumpkin pies for the firefighters, who in return gave Beau a miniature fire hat. The boy is the Bidens’ youngest grandchild – the son of Hunter Biden and his wife Melissa Cohen.