President Joe Biden on Friday kissed Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the forehead, stirring debate online over whether the gesture was creepy, harmless, or tacit support for fascism.
The moment came during a meeting at the White House last week, where the pair discussed issues related to the conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine. Footage of the kiss from Biden, who is well known for his public displays of physical affection, led many of his critics to accuse him of once again being inappropriate.
“Sniffy time,” a pro-Russia account wrote. “Biden went in for the sniff on Meloni. Look how uncomfortable she looks.”
Others leapt to the defense of Biden by arguing that any such complaints regarding his behavior only served to empower conservative narratives.
“Is this constructive criticism or just amplifying right-wing nonsense meant to make Biden look like a sex pest?” asked centrist commentator Aaron Rupar. “Seems like the latter to me.”
But most appeared to argue that the issue was not so much the kiss, but instead Biden’s general embrace of Meloni, who many have accused of being a fascist due to her political beliefs.
“The extreme chumminess of Biden towards Meloni, whose election was described by the Atlantic as ‘The Return of Fascism in Italy,’ is a sight to behold,” said X user Arnaud Bertrand. “She’s still the exact same woman who used to praise Mussolini, but has since decided to show unwavering support for Ukraine and NATO against Russia. So the ‘fascist’ characterizations have stopped, she’s now a ‘good friend’ of Biden, receiving scores of laudatory headlines in the US press such as Forbes listing her as the 4th-most powerful woman in the world, sandwiched between Kamala Harris and Taylor Swift.”
Others agreed that Meloni’s support for Ukraine had allowed her to enter into the good graces of the U.S., despite her political history.
“One of the tactics Meloni uses to make her fascist politics acceptable is through fostering stable relationships with international liberal powers like the EU and US,” another X user said. “Biden is directly playing his role in laundering a fascist (not for the first time either! See israel!).”
Meloni’s far-right base has even expressed outrage over her meeting with Biden as well as her sudden switch regarding Ukraine.
Thomas Corbett-Dillon, a former adviser to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, even complained to Fox News that Meloni had “jumped into bed with the globalists” following her meeting with Biden.
“The people elected her to be the Italian Trump, it was supposed to be Italy First, instead it has been immigrants and Ukraine first,” Corbett-Dillon said. “Europeans are absolutely sick of being ignored by these globalists who promise us everything but deliver nothing.”
In other words, Biden’s kiss is being viewed negatively by just about everyone, even if many of the reasons differ completely.
Biden is set to meet Meloni in June for the annual G7 summit, which will be held in Fasano, Italy. Whether Biden will stroke controversy by opting to kiss her again remains unclear.
