“Thought He Was Just Making Fun of Biden”: Woman Says Dad Had Stroke Watching Presidential Debate

The nation was left cringing after the first 2024 presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Most of the commentary surrounding the debate focused on the behavior President Biden displayed as he tried to speak.

And one TikToker named Tay (@queentayshops) thought that her father was getting into the spirit of lampooning the debate so much he was mocking Joe Biden — but he was actually having a stroke.

Well, her mother thought the joke stroke was just that, a gag, but it turns out it was an honest to goodness medical condition.

"I don't mean to laugh but my dad just had a stroke watching the presidential debate [tonight] and my mom said he started speaking gibberish and staggering and she thought he was just making fun of Biden," the TikToker writes in a text overlay of the video.

She records the video from what looks like a hospital waiting room — the clip begins with her recording her face, the overlay staying on screen the entire time. Tay is wearing a mask in the video before the lens switches to show off the waiting room she's sitting in.

The "gibberish" she's referring to is a reference to the universal cringing several people experienced when watching the debate between former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden.

Leading up to the debate, several people joked about whether or not Biden would be able to stand for the entirety of the proceedings, or if he'd be able to keep his thoughts clear enough to answer questions, like this one skit by VT.com.

Throughout the televised discussion, Biden slurred his speech several times and seemed to have "blank out" moments, which is why Tay compared the actual stroke her father had to the 81-year-old commander in chief's physical condition.

Prior to the debate, some stated that President Joe Biden had a cold during the debate, but it didn't seem that folks were buying that as a potential legitimate justification for his behavior during the nationally broadcast proceedings.

In an interview with Anderson Cooper, Vice President Kamala Harris stated that Biden had a "slow start" but that a presidential debate shouldn't be judged on "style points," adding that she believed he ultimately had a "strong finish" by the end of the debate.

Tay wasn't the only person who referenced President Biden and strokes, either; there were numerous folks on social media who thought that he may've exhibited some less than healthy behavior while he was at the podium.

Political implications associated with Biden's behavior during the debate aside, there were several people who responded to Tay's video who thought her anecdote was hilarious.

Like one person who quipped: "He really got into character but I hope he is OK."

Whereas someone else replied: "He is now qualified for presidency, get that man's name on the ballot."

There was one user on the app who wrote that they thought Joe Biden and Donald Trump's exchanges were so laughable they originally believed the actual debate to be a clip from out of Saturday Night Live: "I thought it was a SNL skit and realized it was the ACTUAL presidential debate!"

While there was another person on the app who thought that her dad seized a golden opportunity to help create a moment of comic genius: "He had the opportunity to do the funniest thing possible and he took it."

Someone else, like many others, wished Tay's father a speedy recovery, but also thought that it was a pretty funny thing that happened: "This is gonna make a great story once the trauma wears off. I hope your dad gets better."

Whereas another person said they were so perturbed watching the presidential debate they could feel themselves suffering as well: "In his defense, I almost had a stroke watching it too."