Why Joe Biden's Latest Instagram Post Has The Internet Buzzing

When the sitting president of the United States also happens to be the oldest person to have become commander-in-chief, the last thing you might expect to see are notes to Joe Biden accusing him (or his social media manager) of thirst trapping, yet here we are. And it all began with a call to arms, urging young people to vaccinate to protect themselves against the coronavirus.

Because the U.S. is seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases once again, and with 99% of COVID deaths among the unvaccinated (via USA Today), the White House might have felt it was time to share an image it probably thought would be more relatable to its current target demographic of young people, many of whom are scheduled to start in-person classes this fall. The image, shared on Instagram, was of a young Joe Biden in a red shirt, along with the caption: "I know this young person would've gotten vaccinated, but we've got to get other young people protected as well. Who's willing to help?"

But as with all social media posts, Biden's staff probably didn't anticipate the kind of responses it would attract or the number of likes it would receive (more than half a million within an hour after it went up). The reason? "Joe is this a thirst trap," one fan asked in the comments of the Instagram post; and that social media user was not alone. Another keyboard warrior sent her compliments to the commander-in-chief, saying "u look hot af in this pic"

The comments flew fast and thick. "Lmao joe was a dish back in the day" commented a third social media user, while a fourth adopted a more formal tone, saying: "Mr. President! No need to be this fine" along with a smirking emoji. And as a fifth Instagrammer pointed out: "potus pulling out the thirst trap, it must be serious."

This isn't the first time that image has done the rounds. It also surfaced back in November, when Joe Biden won the presidential election. The post, from the Instagram account of magazine Vogue Hommes, gave the then-president-elect a shoutout, saying "Congratulations to @JoeBiden, 46th President of the United States of America. Pictured here where it all started, when he was a student at the University of Delaware." 

Granted, it didn't attract the level of attention (or the love) it is getting today — and if it can get a few more young people interested in getting vaccinated, the post would have even accomplished what it set out to do.