‘Joe Biden tried to kidnap my wife’ Bart De Wever revealed in conversation with VRT. The bizarre incident occurred during Pope Francis’s funeral, as world leaders made their way to St Peter’s Basilica. 'He thought he was holding his own wife’s hand; my wife just went along with it,' laughs De Wever.
The story takes place during Pope Francis’s funeral last year. World leaders were sitting together in a closed-off box. 'After the ceremony, we had to make our way back to St Peter’s Basilica in one big stream,' explains De Wever.
‘Between Trump and Macron, I saw Joe Biden. Whilst I was wondering whether I dared ask him for a photo – yes, I’m only human too – he suddenly took my wife’s hand and walked off with her.’
The Belgian Prime Minister didn’t quite know how to react at first. ‘I actually thought my wife went along with it quite readily. It seemed more like an escape than a kidnapping,’ he jokes. ‘In the end, I stood in front of him and introduced myself as the Prime Minister of Belgium.’
Biden quips
“‘How are you, man?’ asked Biden. When I pointed out that he was trying to kidnap my wife, he was taken aback. He thought he was holding his own wife, but Jill Biden was running metres behind him, helplessly in pursuit.”
The former American president quickly recovered, however, with a quip: ‘You’ve certainly married well above your station.’ De Wever sensed that the ice had been broken and replied wittily: ‘I think we’ve both done that, Mr President.’