One Detroit man's ride with Joe Biden in the presidential motorcade [View all]

MJ Lee @mj_lee
“He grabbed my hand and looked at me in the eye.”

I spoke with one Detroit man about his half-hour ride with President Biden in the presidential motorcade today. https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/01/politics/a-ride-with-joe-biden/index.html




— As the motorcade began to make its way through the Detroit suburbs to They Say – a local restaurant in Harper Woods – Darren Riley said the president wanted to dive in right away. During the course of the half-hour ride, Biden inquired about Riley’s upbringing and childhood, education and his business.

“He really asked me who I really am, and what I’m about,” he said.

Riley – who runs his own environmental tech company called JustAir – said he never could have imagined having a conversation with the president. Then with little warning, he found himself with the surreal opportunity to ask the president of the United States for some advice, on everything from his company to how he could be a better leader.

“He grabbed my hand and looked at me in the eye,” Riley said. The president, according to Riley, told him that it didn’t matter whether the issue was something significant, like politics, or a little more trivial, like sports teams.

“Even if you’re on different sides of the spectrum … it’s important that we’re in this together. You have to build that rapport and that trust,” Biden told Riley.

read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/01/politics/a-ride-with-joe-biden/index.html

Catherine’s Buckled Up For 2024! @CMargaronis
And there was one thing in particular about watching Biden up close that had surprised him, Riley said. He was aware of the clips circulating online that highlight the president’s mistakes and fumbles – tripping over his words during remarks, for example.

“He talked about multiple topics, the things he’s juggling and navigating and processing. He is very sharp,” Riley said. “That man? He’s sharp. He’s with it.”

Mr. Riley voted for Biden in 2020 and plans to again in 2024.

President Joe Biden poses for a selfie with diners at They Say restaurant in Detroit on Thursday.
Kevin Lamarque/Retuers