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indy100
indy100
Politics
Sinead Butler

Joe Biden smiled at Vladimir Putin and Republicans were triggered

President Vladimir Putin and President Biden shake hands

(Picture: AP)

President Joe Biden met with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday in an historic sit-down between the world leaders.

Photographers captured the key moment where the pair shook hands and and greeted each other.

During said hand-shake, Biden flashed Putin a smile before the two headed into the summit in Geneva, Switzerland.

The grin could be interpreted as a charming tactic ahead of the high stakes talk - or possibly an awkward smile to ease the tensions between the two.

CNN’s Jim Sciutto seems to believe it was the first option, describing how Biden’s “public posturing” was projecting “strength.”

“The handshake, Biden looked in the eye of Putin with a smile and Putin looked away … These [moments] are about public posturing and about how you project strength.”

There were people that agreed with Sciutto’s analysis of the exchange.

Though some did not arrive at the same conclusion.

Some Republicans were simply not happy that Biden showed off his pearly whites to Putin.

In a now-deleted tweet, Mike Pence’s former spokesperson Alyssa Farah said they ensured that Pence did not smile in his photo-op with Putin to reflect the gravity of the situation.

Despite deleting this tweet, Farah retweeted a different post that criticised Biden’s grin.

People also compared Biden and Putin’s meeting to former President Donald Trump’s meeting with the Russian president in 2018.

Some speculated that Biden flashing his gnashers made Putin feel uncomfortable.

But many disagreed, referencing a picture which showed the two world leaders both smiling at one point.

Anyway... who knew a smile could prompt such a reaction?

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