Sleepy Joe gives Australia’s new PM permission to nod off during Quad summit

President Joe Biden gave Australia’s new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese permission to nod off during Tuesday’s Quad summit in Tokyo.  

‘If you fall asleep while you’re here, it’s OK,’ Biden said. ‘I don’t know how you’re doing it.’

On Saturday, Albanese won Australia’s general election over incumbent Prime Minister Scott Morrison. He was sworn-in Monday and jumped on the flight to Japan several hours later for the meeting with the leaders of the U.S., India and Japan. 

‘Prime Minister Albanese, I welcome you to your first Quad meeting,’ Biden said. ‘He got sworn-in, got on a plane,’ adding how difficult that was coming directly off the campaign trail. 

President Joe Biden (left) gave Australia’s new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (right) permission during Tuesday’s Quad meeting in Tokyo. Albanese was sworn-in Monday and hopped a flight to Japan to meet with the leaders of the U.S., Japan and India 

The Quad leaders gathered in Tokyo on Tuesday (from left) Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida  

Australia’s new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gives a thumbs up as he boards his flight to Tokyo, Japan for the Quad summit just hours after he was sworn-in 

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured) waves as he arrives Monday night in Tokyo, Japan for the Quad meeting 

Albanese’s Twitter account shared a photo of the new prime minister giving a thumbs up as he boarded his plane to Japan.  

During Biden’s own 2020 campaign, former President Donald Trump assigned him the nickname ‘Sleepy Joe,’ highlighting the now 79-year-old’s advanced age. 

Biden got caught snoozing on a different foreign trip. 

In November, a video of the president went viral after he appeared to doze off during the COP26 summit in Scotland. 

The 59-year-old Albanese told Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the Quad was of the utmost importance for the new Australian government. 

‘It is an honor that this is my first act as prime minister to attend this important Quad leaders meeting here in Japan,’ Albanese said at the top of the meeting.   

The Quad leaders will meet as a foursome Tuesday morning in Tokyo – the final day of Biden’s first Asia trip as U.S. president – and then Biden and Albanese will hold their first bilateral meeting Tuesday afternoon. 

Australia was also included in the economic pact, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which the White House announced Monday. 

The IPEF brings together the U.S. and 12 Indo-Pacific nations to the negotiating table to deal with problems such as global supply chains, which have been hindered due to the coronavirus pandemic.