President Joe Biden visited naval installations in Virginia on Sunday, November 21st, kicking off the Thanksgiving holiday week with a visit to Norfolk. At the naval support activity, he introduced an early screening of the upcoming movie “Wonka” and shared a “friendsgiving” meal with service members and their relatives.
Biden and First Lady Jill Biden headed to a packed auditorium at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads to introduce the new film centered on the early life of Roald Dahl’s fictional eccentric chocolatier, Willy Wonka. The film is set to be officially released on December 15.
After the movie screening, the Bidens served dinner with service members from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Gerald R. Ford at Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia, the largest installation of its kind in the world, along with their families. The event featured around 400 service members and their relatives sitting in folding chairs and around wooden, circular tables inside a concrete-floored hangar. The menu included slow-roasted bourbon-brined turkey, spiral-cut smoked ham, brioche-cornbread stuffing, and more.
In all of this, the Bidens took a moment to honor former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who passed away earlier on Sunday, and President Jimmy Carter. “They brought so much grace to the office,” President Biden said.
Meanwhile, Biden’s 2024 Republican rival, Donald Trump, was scheduled for a military visit on November 21st in Texas. The former president, who has a commanding early lead in the 2024 GOP primary, was in Edinburg following his visit with National Guard soldiers and troopers.
For the Bidens, offering support to the nation’s military has a personal connection, as Jill Biden spoke about their son Beau’s deployment in Iraq as a member of the Delaware National Guard at the Wonka event. “I know there are many here who miss their mom or dad or spouse,” she said.
As the Bidens prepared to celebrate Thanksgiving with the troops at home, the war between Israel and Hamas and the fate of hostages, including Americans, being held by the militants in Gaza, were front and center for the president. A reporter asked Biden when more hostages might go free, and he replied, “I’m not in a position to tell you that.” He added, “I want to make sure they’re out and then I’ll tell you.”
The Bidens were advised of Rosalynn Carter’s death during their visit, announcing her passing just before serving the Friendsgiving meal. Jill Biden asked diners to “include the Carter family in your prayers” during the holiday season. Carter, she said, “was well-known for her efforts on mental health and caregiving and women’s rights.”
Biden spoke to reporters as he was boarding Air Force One to leave Norfolk, he described the Carters as a couple of grace and integrity and praised Jimmy Carter as a person who worked as hard for others after he left the White House as he did in office. Biden also talked at the dinner with service members about watching Beau Biden’s children while he was deployed, but then appeared too overcome with emotion to continue and said, “I don’t want to talk about this.”
“Happy, happy Thanksgiving,” Biden said. “May God love you all.”
Friendsgiving with the military has become a tradition for the Bidens, and they plan to spend this Thanksgiving on Nantucket, a Massachusetts island.