Photo of Biden quietly talking to homeless man resurfaces: ‘Character is what you do when no one is watching’

A photograph of President Joe Biden speaking to a homeless man has resurfaced, thanks to a popular Reddit post.

The post, captioned “After seeing a movie with his family, Biden takes a moment to speak with a homeless man”, shows Mr Biden leaning down on a public street speaking with a man in a gray sweatshirt and black jacket. The post already has more than 76,000 engagements since it was published on Monday.

The photo of Mr Biden is indeed authentic, but it is not new. Politico reported that the photograph was taken in March of 2018 outside of a movie theater on K Street in Washington DC, where Mr Biden had seen a movie with his granddaughter.

The photograph was taken outside the Georgetown AMC movie theater by Caleb Baca, who told local television station FOX 5 that Mr Biden appeared to write something down on a piece of paper and hand it to the man before departing. A public affairs consultant and businessman named Paul Equale posted the photo on Facebook, praising Mr Biden in his caption.

“Joe Biden took his granddaughter to the movies in Georgetown last night.....on his way out he stopped to speak w/ a homeless man,” Mr Equale wrote. “A bystander took this candid shot. Character is about what you do when no one is watching.”

The post and photograph went viral. Mr Biden was praised by a range of citizens and public figures like Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, who wrote that the then-former Vice President “shows us what a leader is”.

At the time, Mr Biden was weighing a third bid for the presidency after serving two terms as Barack Obama’s vice president. Mr Biden ultimately launched his campaign in late April, more than a month later, saying that he decided to make his bid in part out of a “sense of duty” to the nation.

Mr Biden was considered a strong contender for the nomination, but his campaign sputtered for much of the rest of 2019 — with questions about Mr Biden’s viability mounting as other candidates like Sen Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sen Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg all surged.

Both Mr Sanders and Mr Buttigieg claimed victory in the Iowa caucus that began the nominating contests in 2020, after which consecutive victories in New Hampshire and Nevada made Mr Sanders the favourite to secure the nomination. But after a sizable victory in South Carolina, moderates in the Democratic Party rallied around Mr Biden to stop Mr Sanders ahead of Super Tuesday. Mr Biden wrapped up the nomination shortly thereafter.

Mr Biden, 79, is now enjoying the most successful period of his presidency. Congress passed Mr Biden’s signature spending and climate bill earlier this summer, after which Mr Biden announced a much-anticipated plan to cancel a portion of Americans’ student debt.

Mr Biden’s poll numbers have begun to climb, as have Democratic hopes about maintaining control of at least one chamber of Congress during the November midterms.