Joe Biden raises eyebrows with 'Flamin' Hot' Eva Longoria hug
Hands where we can see them, Joe!
President Biden got a little too close to actress Eva Longoria at the White House Thursday night — before the Hollywood starlet guided the 80-year-old’s mitts to relative safety.
The president embraced the “Desperate Housewives” alum after addressing a film screening of her directorial debut, “Flamin’ Hot,” but let his hands hover a bit too long on her waist before the actress quickly moved to grasp them and took a step back.
“Actress Eva Longoria barely escaped Joe Biden’s clutches,” one Twitter user said of the uneasy moment.
The oldest-ever president had awkwardly joked a moment before the hug about the age gap between him and Longoria when they first met.
“We’ve known each other a long time,” Biden told the crowd.
“She was 17, I was 40,” he joked to scattered laughs.
President Biden was accused of getting a little handsy with actress Eva Longoria Thursday night at the White House. Yuri Gripas/UPI/Shutterstock
The Hollywood starlet guided his hands safely elsewhere. AP
“Biden makes [a] disturbing comment from The White House about how long he’s known Eva Longoria: ‘She was 17, I was 40.’ And then he slowly slides his hands across her body as they hug,” tweeted Newsmax columnist Mark Vargas. “And the crowd full of Democrats just laugh.”
Their birthdates actually show that Longoria would have been 7 years old when the president was 40, and that Biden was instead 50 years old when they first met.
Longoria endorsed Biden in 2020 and was a major fundraiser for former President Barack Obama, raising between $200,000 and $500,000 for the 44th president’s 2012 re-election campaign.
The commander-in-chief also reused one of his favorite jokes about his primary role — “I’m Jill Biden’s husband” — and mixed it up with an audience member who shouted out, “I love you.”
“She was 17, I was 40,” Biden joked of his first meeting with Longoria, which drew scattered laughs. Gripas Yuri/ABACA/Shutterstock
“I accept!” Biden replied.
“Flamin’ Hot” tells the story of Richard Montanez, a Mexican-American janitor who worked for Frito-Lay and in the movie sells his bosses on an idea to boost sales for the signature Cheetos brand snack.
“When I think about tonight’s movie, I think about courage. So many of you, your ancestors left behind all that they knew to start a new life in the United States,” Biden said of the movie.
The White House defended its screening of the film and told the Associated Press it was not a documentary but meant to give Americans from different backgrounds AP
However, Montanez may not have been as intimately involved as the film portrays.
The Los Angeles Times ran an article disputing many of the claims Montanez has made and Frito-Lay stated in May 2021 that the janitor “was not involved” in creating the spicy snack food.
But the White House defended its screening of the film and told the Associated Press it was not a documentary but meant to give Americans from different backgrounds a chance to see themselves reflected in film and celebrated by the president.
“We are telling a story that celebrates the American entrepreneurial dream without sidestepping the fact that the dream isn’t available in the same way for everyone,” Longoria said. Getty Images
Longoria said the story inspired her because she has been told “no” during her career, that ideas don’t come from people like her, that she couldn’t do certain jobs because she is a woman.
She also said she and her team had worked hard “to produce this authentic film steeped in inclusion.”
“We are telling a story that celebrates the American entrepreneurial dream without sidestepping the fact that the dream isn’t available in the same way for everyone,” she said.
Biden noted it was the first White House screening of a film with Hispanic characters at the center. Getty Images
First lady Jill Biden added, “This film isn’t just about Richard. It’s about everyone who has been overlooked or underestimated,” while her husband noted it was the first White House screening of a film with Hispanic characters at the center.
“Flamin’ Hot” was made available for streaming June 9 on Hulu and Disney+.
With Post wires
Source: New York Post
