Mark Hamill made a surprise appearance at the White House press briefing on Friday, and not everyone is happy about it.
“How many of you had ‘Mark Hamill will lead the press briefing’ on your bingo card? Hands?” the iconic actor joked, explaining that he’d just met with President Joe Biden, who’d given him a pair of sunglasses. “I love the merch, I love it all,” he said.
The Star Wars actor said he was open to questions from the press, but joked that he wouldn’t answer any questions about the beloved film series in which he starred.
Evidently, Fox News had a bad feeling about this celebrity cameo.
“All right so, this is happening now,” said Fox News anchor Shannon Bream. “You’ve got a former president on trial at New York State Supreme Court you’ve got antisemitic protests happening on college campuses all over the country, and Mark Hamill is at the podium at the White House press briefing!”
She laughed, noting that she isn’t a fan of the sci-fi series. “Maybe that’s exciting for some, but an interesting move on the part of the White House as there are big news events happening all over the country.”
“You know, maybe he’s got some advice that Yoda would bring for the president, you know ‘try not. Do or do not,’” said co-host John Roberts.
While speaking with the press Hamill praised the president, calling him the “most legislatively successful president in my lifetime,” mentioning the “Bipartisan Infrastructure law, the PACT Act, the CHIPS Act and the Inflation [Reduction Act], fifteen million jobs,” as examples of Biden’s political prowess.
Hamill said that his Oval Office meeting had been “really extra special.” He also told reporters he’d asked the president if he could call him “Joe-bi-Wan Kenobi.”
Cringey jokes aside, Hamill regularly posts on X to tout the achievements of “the best president we’ve ever had,” and has tweeted in support of Biden’s re-election effort everyday for the past three days, clearly leading up to May 4, the unofficial Star Wars holiday on which fans around the world celebrate their beloved space opera.
