The National Christmas Tree in front of the White House fell down Tuesday afternoon amid high winter winds in the region. After this embarrassment, President Joe Biden was mocked for failing to secure not only the border, but also the tree.
One conservative watchdog announced, “Metaphor alert.”
“If the administration was depicted by a Christmas Tree,” Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, said. “This pretty much sums up the entire Biden Presidency.”
One Twitter user said, “Joe Biden team fails to secure the White House Christmas tree. Just like they do with everything.”
Other observers compared the tree to our famously clumsy president, who fell off a stopped bicycle in June 2022.
Fox News host Jesse Watters said on air, “The White House Christmas tree has taken a tumble, just like its owner,” Watters said on air.
The wind also toppled the National Christmas Tree in 2011, during Biden’s vice presidency.
Some Twitter users joked about a conspiracy. One podcaster asked, “Did any surveillance footage of the Christmas tree go missing?”
The tree, a 40-foot Norway spruce from West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest, had been planted just two weeks ago on the White House Ellipse, an area known as President’s Park. According to the National Park Service, it fell over around 1 p.m. Tuesday amid heavy wind gusts that reached as high at 46 mph at nearby Reagan National Airport.
Take a look —
UPDATE: The White House Christmas tree has been lifted by crane! It was toppled by wind earlier tonight @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/XtSSty8gfV
— Aimee Cho (@AimeeCho4) November 28, 2023
NPS spokeswoman Jasmine Shanti said in an email that after “replacing a snapped cable,” the tree was back upright by 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The lighting of the tree is an annual White House holiday tradition with a countdown and musical performances. This year’s tree is a new one, replacing an older tree that, according to NPS, developed a fungal disease known as “needle cast” that caused its needles to turn brown and fall off.
The tree was scheduled to be lit Thursday, but there was no indication from the White House whether Tuesday’s incident will delay that. The string lights remained lit even after the fall.
Another tree outside the U.S. Capitol building was lit successfully Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.