Olivia Rodrigo: Joe Biden 'gave me a shoehorn'
Olivia Rodrigo came away from her White House visit with some presidential gifts — including one she found a bit strange.
The pop star visited the White House in July to help the Biden administration urge young people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, she explained that President Biden "gave me a few gifts" while she was there. One of them was the pair of sunglasses the Sour singer was photographed wearing with Biden in the Oval Office.
In addition to that, though, Rodrigo told Kimmel, "He gave me some M&M's, and he also gave me a shoehorn, which was strange." Rodrigo assured a surprised Kimmel she was being serious and still has the shoehorn, which was emblazoned with a presidential seal, at her house. When the late night host asked if she had to "pretend to be interested" in shoehorns as not to be rude to the president, she noted she didn't actually realize it was one of the gifts at first.
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"I didn't see it when he gave it to me," Rodrigo said. "It was like in a bag, and I opened it up, and I was like, 'Oh, that's so cool!'"
Rodrigo said it was an "honor" to visit the White House, even though she was "so nervous to go" and scared she was going to "sneeze and break" something. Kimmel, though, seemed a bit flabbergasted to learn that Biden is "giving out shoehorns" to people, quipping, "If you ever thought Joe Biden was too old to be president, now we know he is."
