Bidens Safe After Car Crashes Into Motorcade

The president and first lady were leaving the Biden campaign headquarters after a dinner with their staff when the incident occurred.
Bidens Safe After Car Crashes Into Motorcade
Members of the U.S. Secret Service rush to a car after it hit a motorcade SUV, as President Joe Biden was leaving his campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del., on Dec. 17, 2023. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Melanie Sun
Updated:

President Joe Biden and the first lady were leaving their campaign headquarters on Sunday night when a silver copper sedan with Delaware plates, hit one of the vehicles in their parked motorcade, according to White House pool reports.

The president and first lady are safe. They were visiting the Biden campaign headquarters to have dinner with staff before the incident occurred.

Just after 8 p.m. as rain was pouring down, the Bidens exited the Biden-Harris 2024 headquarters in downtown Wilmington.

Mrs. Biden, after wishing pool reporters Happy Holidays, was the first to board their vehicle in the motorcade. President Biden then exited the headquarters but his exit was interrupted when the sedan hit a motorcade SUV that was placed at the intersection across from the entrance of the campaign headquarters.

President Biden at the time was responding to a question from a pool reporter, who asked about why he was losing to former President Donald Trump in the polls. President Biden responded, “You’re reading the wrong polls.”

Moments after responding, “there was a loud bang and POTUS was standing outside [his] vehicle with a surprised expression on his face,” according to pool reports.

The U.S. Secret Service then quickly rushed President Biden aboard his vehicle, while the sedan—approximately 40-50 feet away—was quickly cornered by Secret Service agents, who pulled their weapons on the male driver. Pool reporters were then shuffled from the area.

President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden have since left the headquarters in their motorcade and have returned safely back to their Delaware home.

Wilmington police later described the incident as an “accidental collision.”

The sedan’s driver, a 46-year-old male who has not been named, was charged with drink driving, a police spokesman said.

The Secret Service said, “there was no protective interest associated with this event.”

Update: This article has been updated to include comment from Wilmington police and Secret Service.
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