"Too Horrible": Japanese Netizens Shake Their Heads at White House Video of Takaichi

Captured at the White House "Presidential Hall of Honor"

Laughter at Autopen image displayed in place of Biden's photo

Japanese netizens: "Joined in mocking Biden, inappropriate"

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made her first visit to the United States since taking office, and a scene that could be interpreted as mocking former U.S. President Joe Biden was released, sparking controversy.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is seen laughing broadly on the 19th (local time) while touring the White House grounds, pointing at a photo mocking former U.S. President Joe Biden. Photo captured from the White House on X (formerly Twitter).

On the 19th (local time), Prime Minister Takaichi, who visited the United States for a three-day, two-night schedule, toured the White House grounds after holding a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. During this tour, she was seen laughing as she pointed at an exhibit related to former President Biden, a moment that was captured on video.

The approximately 52-second video released by the White House included footage of the summit and a walk between President Trump and Prime Minister Takaichi. The controversial scene appeared as the two walked down the so-called "Presidents' Honor Gallery." This area displays photos of previous U.S. presidents, but for former President Biden, an image of the "Autopen" (automatic signing machine) is displayed instead of his photo. President Trump created the "Presidents' Honor Gallery" in the West Wing hallway of the White House last year and exhibited the Autopen image instead of a photo of former President Biden. This was interpreted as ridiculing Biden by highlighting suspicions that his policy signings were not executed by his own will due to alleged cognitive issues.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is seen smiling broadly on the 19th (local time) while touring the White House grounds, pointing at a photo mocking former U.S. President Biden. Photo captured from X (formerly Twitter) at the White House.

Prime Minister Takaichi was seen bursting into laughter at this, and the interpreter accompanying her was also caught smiling. After being released through the White House's official channel, the video quickly spread on social networking services (SNS). The footage mainly circulated among Trump supporters with captions such as "The whole world is laughing at Joe Biden," but there has also been criticism that it is disrespectful to a former head of state.

Japanese netizens commented that "Prime Minister Takaichi must have been aware of President Trump's crude intent to show this location to a foreign leader; most would have passed by without reacting, but she instead joined in mocking former President Biden," and, "It was so shocking that at first I thought the video was AI-generated," criticizing her for acting inappropriately.

Kabasawa Yohei, a member of the Chiba City Council from the Constitutional Democratic Party, also said, "Prime Minister Takaichi laughs at a mocking portrait of former President Biden just to please President Trump," adding, "She will do anything to win Trump's favor. It's disgraceful as a person."

The second Trump administration created a commemorative space in the White House last year where photos of past presidents are displayed side by side, but instead of former President Biden, they hung a photo of the "Autopen" (automatic signing machine). Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

Some have speculated that the White House intentionally released this footage to convey the message that even the Japanese Prime Minister laughed at an exhibit criticizing former President Biden. There are concerns that this could be received negatively by supporters of the U.S. Democratic Party. However, neither the White House nor the Japanese government has issued any official statements regarding this matter.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.