President Joe Biden hugs film director Eva Longoria during a screening of the film “Flamin’ Hot” at the White House. Photo / Getty Images
President Joe Biden hugs film director Eva Longoria during a screening of the film “Flamin’ Hot” at the White House. Photo / Getty Images
Commentators have been left shocked by footage of an interaction between US President Joe Biden and Hollywood star Eva Longoria.
According to the New York Post, Longoria’s visit to the White House last week to celebrate her directorial debut, Flamin’ Hot, included a lingering embrace between the star and Biden, 80.
The Post reports that Longoria can be seen physically moving the President’s hands off her waist and stepping back.
The interaction was preceded by a comment from Biden to the crowd about his relationship with Longoria: “We’ve known each other a long time.
Newsmax columnist Mark Vargas tweeted: “Biden makes [a] disturbing comment from The White House about how long he’s known Eva Longoria: ‘She was 17, I was 40.’ And then he slowly slides his hands across her body as they hug. And the crowd full of Democrats just laugh.”
Another Twitter user wrote of the interaction: “Actor Eva Longoria barely escaped Joe Biden’s clutches.”
President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden and film director Eva Longoria celebrate the Desperate Housewives star's film Flamin' Hot. Photo / Getty Images
It has since been noted that the pair’s age gap is much bigger: The Desperate Housewives star would have actually been seven years old when the president was 40 and Biden was 50 when they first met.
Longoria has been an active supporter of the current US President, endorsing the octogenarian in 2020. She was also a major fundraiser for former President Barack Obama, raising between $US200,000 and $US500,000 ($321,000 and $804,000) for the 44th president’s 2012 re-election campaign.
Following the screening of Longoria’s film, which tells the story of a a Mexican-American janitor who worked for food company Frito-Lay and convinces bosses to take on his idea to sell their popular product, Cheetos.
“When I think about tonight’s movie, I think about courage. So many of you, your ancestors left behind all that they knew to start a new life in the United States,” Biden said of the movie.
And Longoria shared that she had been inspired by the story because during her career she had been told “no” and that she couldn’t do certain jobs because she is a woman.
“We are telling a story that celebrates the American entrepreneurial dream without sidestepping the fact that the dream isn’t available in the same way for everyone,” she said.
