White House Cuts Feed When Person Behind Biden Collapses During Speech

Johnathan JonesMay 27, 2023

The White House cut a live broadcast of a speech on Friday after a woman standing behind President Joe Biden collapsed.

The president was playing host to the national championship-winning Louisiana State University women’s basketball team.

Biden hailed the women for their success as they stood together behind the podium.

“You know, I used to tell our daughters, our granddaughters, they can do anything at all. Anything any man can do, they can do,” Biden said.

He added, “That’s what America’s all about — possibilities. That’s what this team is about — incredible athletes redefining what’s possible.”

As Biden noted that the White House would next host the championship-winning University of Connecticut men’s basketball team, a commotion behind him interrupted his remarks.

Biden stopped speaking as people rushed forward to help the young woman who had fainted, a player identified as freshman forward Sa’Myah Smith.

“Folks, it’s OK,” Biden said.

The White House feed of the event was then cut.

A C-SPAN camera continued rolling throughout the next few minutes as Smith was tended to.

“It’s a lot of standing. I apologize,” Biden said, later adding, “It’s happened lots of times.”

LSU women’s basketball player Sa’Myah Smith faints while President Biden delivers remarks at the White House. pic.twitter.com/hKRccCBGou

— CSPAN (@cspan) May 26, 2023

After a roughly six-minute delay, Smith was escorted out of the room and Biden continued his speech.

Some speculated that Smith might have fainted because she had been standing with her knees locked for an extended period of time. Biden had been speaking for about 15 minutes when she collapsed.

When you stand for long periods of time, you gotta periodically bend your knees to keep the blood circulating.

— Peetie Peete (@Peetie_Peete) May 26, 2023