Bidens attend Nantucket’s annual Christmas tree lighting – with tree failing to light up on first go

President Joe Biden and his family attended Nantucket’s annual Christmas tree lighting – with the tree failing to light up on first go – after they spent Friday afternoon munching on cheeseburgers and lobster rolls and taking a shopping trip around town.  

The president, first lady Jill Biden, Ashley Biden, Hunter Biden, his wife Melissa and son Beau were all gathered on one side of the town square, where the tree was to be illuminated around 5pm.  

But when it came time for the big moment – the tree didn’t react. The tpwn crier led the countdown but the failure of the lights to come on left the onlookers chuckling.

Several moments later, the tree managed to get flicked on so Nantucket could kick off the Christmas season. 

Baby Beau, who was spotted earlier slumped over Hunter’s shoulders, was awake and providing some pre-show entertainment, jiggling to one of the opening acts. 

Ashley Biden – the president’s daughter and Beau’s aunt – held hands with her two-year-old nephew, shaking her hips and jiving with him as they waited on the tree to be illuminated. She even squated down to be close to his height, dancing on the cobblestones with the little guy.

President Biden took photos and videos of the two rocking out on his cell phone. 

It was a chilly damp night and, several times, the president put his arm around the first lady. The pair huddled together to keep warm and listen to a children’s choir sing old favorites like ‘Silent Night,’ ‘Jingle Bells,’ and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.’

The town crier pointed out to the watching townfolks the Bidens were watching the ceremony from the sidelines. President Biden waved his baseball cap as they cheered him. 

Before the big tree lighting ceremony, President Biden’s first stop Friday was the restaurant Brotherhood of Thieves, an eatery the family has frequented in the many Thanksgivings they’ve spent on the island. 

The Bidens lunched in the cozy ground floor New England bar. 

The president ordered the Brotherhood burger with cheese and tomato, curly fries and a Diet Coke. 

One diner who spotted the president at the restaurant commented online that he hoped the president ordered a Guinness, but Biden doesn’t drink alcohol. 

First lady Jill Biden had a lobster roll and salad, while Melissa Cohen kept her cheeseburger order healthy with a lettuce bun. 

Even baby Beau had a cheeseburger – but only ate half – along with an order of curly fries, a popular side with most of the Biden family, the first family’s server told DailyMail.com. 

Afterward, the Bidens popped into Nantucket Bookworks – another shop they’re known to frequent – where the first lady purchased Christmas ornaments, a shopkeeper told DailyMail.com. 

The shop sells local, handmade ornaments. 

The Bidens strolled through Nantucket as the U.S. was battling England in the World Cup. 

The game ended in a 0-0 tie. 

‘Team USA all the way!’ Dr. Biden remarked at one point. 

‘I’d rather it be 0-1. But it’s good. England is tough,’ the president later said, after the match’s final.

President Biden and family meandered about the town for nearly an hour after they ate, killing time in a variety of shops before the Christmas tree lighting ceremony. 

Earlier, the trio of Biden women – Jill, Ashley and Melissa – were out shopping without the president, dipping into the island’s cute boutiques on a dreary, yet warm day. 

The first lady wore all black – a hooded shiny black jacket, black leather gloves, black jeans and tall black suede heeled boots – and carried a black umbrella as they walked from store to store around town. 

Ashley sported a patterned shirt, a black puffer jacket, black pants and black booties, while Cohen – the wife of Hunter Biden – sported sunglasses, and wore a black peacoat over a plaid skirt. 

Ashley Biden had stopped in the Erin Hielle boutique Wednesday and promised owner Erin Homan she’d return. 

She did so with her mother, Dr. Biden, who ‘started to try on some things’ but ‘didn’t buy anything’ because she was instantly recognized by other shoppers – who wanted photos with the first lady. 

The first daughter had remarked to the shopkeeper that it’s ‘never been this bad,’ Homan said, in terms of people recognizing members of the Biden family as they spend Thanksgiving on the tony Massachusetts island. 

Shoppers stopped on the street Friday when they noticed the first lady’s large Secret Service detail outside – and were searched with hand wands if they wanted to join the Biden family inside the stores. 

During her Friday shopping trip to Erin Hielle, Ashley Biden ‘bought a pair of jeans that she wore out of the store,’ Homan said. 

On Wednesday the first daughter ‘bought two pairs of underwear and a sweater,’ and played with Homan’s two dachsunds, who spend their days at the store. 

Ashley Biden was also spotted carrying a bag out from Clorinda Antinori, an Italian shoe store. 

DailyMail.com also exclusively captured Dr. Biden and Ashley Biden on a beach walk Thursday afternoon, with first dog Commander.  

The first lady and Ashley walked out of the $30 million compound the Biden clan is staying in on Nantucket to the private beach attached to the residence. 

Ashley appeared to bend down to pick something off the beach. The beaches in Nantucket are filled with shells and colorful stones. 

They also took the dog out on a dock that overlooks the Nantucket Harbor. 

Commander looked off the edge as if contemplating a jump into the icy water but the German shepherd pup was on a leash and stayed safely on shore. 

Ashley, at one point, held up her phone for a selfie, with the first lady peering over her daughter’s shoulder to get in the frame.

President Joe Biden didn’t join the mom and daughter duo.  The two women were dressed warmly for the sunny but chilly day, wearing black winter coats. Ashley wore a purple hat. 

The walk capped off a busy Thanksgiving Day for the Bidens, who are spending the holiday weekend on the island off the coast of Massachusetts. 

The first couple called into the Macy’s Day Parade, telephoned various branches of the U.S. military, and took their two-year-old grandson Beau with them when they visited a Nantucket fire station to hand out pumpkin pies and offer thanks for their service. 

The first couple held hands with the little boy as they walked up to greet the brigade on their Thanksgiving Day visit.

‘How are you guys?’ President Biden said. ‘You’re the best.’

The firefighters gave Beau, who is named after Biden’s late son Beau, a miniature firefighter hat. 

The little boy, wearing jeans and a blue puffer coat, promptly put the red hat on over his long blonde hair. He held onto the first lady, who the grandkids call ‘Nana.’

President Biden received a baseball cap with the logo of the Nantucket Fire Department, which he put on. 

The first couple posed for pics with the fire brigade, the fire trucks visible in the background.  

The president also met with Nantucket Fire Department captain Nathan Barber, who was named Nantucket’s man of the year.

Barber this summer helped fight a massive fire at the historic Veranda House hotel, which took out that building and two nearby homes. 

At the time the fire started, he was off-duty and getting coffee nearby when he saw the smoke billowing from the Veranda House. 

He ran to the building and, when a guest said his son was trapped in the building, Barber ran inside to help find him and other guests trapped in the burning blaze. 

Barber was hospitalized for smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion after the fire.

Most of the buildings on Nantucket are made of wood. They are also grouped close together, making fire a major risk on the island. 

NMagazine, the local magazine, put Barber on its cover.

Both Joe and Jill Biden signed the magazine for him. The president wrote something he has long said about firefighters: ‘God made man, and then he made a few firefighters.’ 

Jill Biden also had made a solo visit to the fire station in July, when she was on the island at a fundraiser for the Democratic Party. 

The Bidens are spending the Thanksgiving holiday on Nantucket. Beau is the son of Hunter Biden and his wife Melissa Cohen, who are on the trip but did not join the visit to the fire house. 

During the stop with first responders, Biden also spoke with reporters about the serious issue of gun violence. 

‘The idea that we still allow semiautomatic weapons to be purchased is sick,’ Biden said. ‘It’s just sick. It has no, no social redeeming value. Zero. None. Not a single, solitary rationale for it except profit for the gun manufacturers.’ 

He’s had to respond to three mass shootings in a week’s time – at a Chesapeake, Virginia Walmart Tuesday night, which occurred three days after people at an LGBTQ club in Colorado Springs, Colorado were gunned down and a week after a former University of Virginia football killed three members of the current roster. 

The White House said later Thursday that the president and first lady had called the owners of Club Q, Nic Grzecka and Matthew Haynes, to offer condolences. 

On a lighter note, the president joked with reporters when asked when he would have his annual physical – having turned 80 on Sunday. He is the oldest president to be in office.

‘Do you think I need it?’ the president asked. ‘Part of my physical is already done and I’ll be getting it before the end of the year,’ he then answered. 

After the visit, the president and first lady called units from each branch of our military, stationed around the world, to thank them and their families for their service to the country, the White House said.

The Bidens called the Army 10th Special Forces Group, sailors on the U.S.S. Paul Ignatius, Marine Corps Combat Logistics Battalion 6, Air Force 509th Munitions Squadron at Whiteman Air Force Base, Space Force 16th Expeditionary Electromagnetic Warfare Flight, and Coast Guard Port Security Unit 305, which is Guantanamo Bay.

Biden has long praised the service of firefighters, noting they were first on the scene in 1972, when his first wife Neilia was in a car crash with their sons Beau, Hunter and daughter Naomi. 

Neilia and Naomi did not survive. 

When the president, along with wife Jill, called into the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade on Thursday morning, he praised the work of first responders. 

‘I want to say thanks to the firefighters and police officers, first responders. They never take a break,’ the president said.

‘And God bless our troops for sure,’ the first lady added.

‘And by the way, we’re going to be talking to some of our troops later in the day, both here and abroad. I hope everybody remembers. We remember them every single day. God bless our troops for real,’ the president said.

It was the second year in a row the Bidens called into the annual parade.