Joe Biden Appears Confused as Emanuel Macron Pulls Him Aside to Discuss Middle East Oil Production

President Joe Biden appeared confused Wednesday as French President Emanuel Macron pulled him aside to talk about oil production in the Middle East.

“Excuse me, sorry to interrupt,” Macron says as he stops Biden in front of the news media cameras at the G7 global leadership summit.

Biden and his national security advisor Jake Sullivan pause and turn as Macron informs the president he spoke with the United Arab Emirates about the production of more oil in the Middle East.

“I had a call with MBZ. He told me two things. One, I’m at a maximum, maximum what he claims,” Macron begins, referring to the UAE.

Biden is shown listening to Macron, staring straight ahead, appearing interested in continuing the walk to the next summit event.

“Second, according to MBZ, the Saudis can increase a little bit, by 150 (thousand gallons) or a little bit more, but they don’t have huge capacities at least before six months’ time,” Macron continues.

When encouraged by aides to keep moving, Macron pauses and pivots, putting his hand on Biden’s shoulder, attempting to continue the conversation, before Sullivan interrupts.

“Maybe we should just step inside … because of the cameras,” Sullivan advises.

The moment went viral on social media, as people speculated whether Macron intended for his conversation with Biden to get captured on camera.

It’s not clear that Biden appreciated the gravity of what Macron was saying. Before Macron could finish, Biden started to walk away, and interrupted him, as though he were in a hurry to get to the gabfest, even though Macron’s intel should change everything.

— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) June 27, 2022

Biden appears confused that Macron stopped him on the walk between events and gives little in the way of a response.

Biden plans to visit Saudi Arabia during his trip, in the hopes of encouraging them to produce more oil to eventually bring down gas prices which have reached record highs under his leadership.

The president continues resisting actions to boost the production of oil and gas in the United States, denying oil companies regulatory waivers, drilling permits, and oil infrastructure.