Driver who hit Joe Biden’s motorcade ‘was under influence of alcohol’ | US News

A driver who struck President Joe Biden’s motorcade has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

James Cooper, 46, crashed into a Secret Service vehicle protecting the motorcade on Sunday night as Biden left an event at his campaign headquarters in downtown Wilmington, Delaware, said police spokesman David Karas.

Footage and photos from incident showed Biden looking shocked at the moment of the crash.

‘Mr President, why are you losing to Trump in the polls?’ a reporter could be heard yelling to Biden as he walked out of his headquarters on the rainy night around 8pm.

Biden gave a brief response then seconds later, as he continued walking, the crash sounded and he stopped to look in that direction with his mouth agape. The president, wearing a baseball cap, said, ‘Wow,’ the Daily Mail reported.

Secret Service agents around Biden quickly surrounded him and ensured he stepped into his vehicle. First Lady Jill Biden, who accompanied her husband, was already inside the vehicle.

Authorities could be seen rushing toward a light-colored Ford sedan with Delaware license plates and pointing weapons at the driver as he surrendered, according to White House press pool reporters. Sirens blared.

No one was injured, Karas said on Monday.

The Bidens were having a spaghetti dinner with staff on his 2024 reelection campaign. They were back at their home around 8.20pm.

Police ruled it an ‘accidental collision’, Axios reported.

Cooper, of Wilmington, was pictured inside his vehicle holding his hands up. He was also charged with inattentive driving and released from custody and issued a court date.

Secret Service Special Agent Steve Kopek on Sunday night stated that there was ‘no protective interest associated with this event and the President’s motorcade departed without incident’.

The incident happened five months after a driver fleeing a Secret Service officer fatally ran over an elderly man and struck a girl near the White House. And in May, a truck driver who allegedly planned to deliver a coup speech on the end of American democracy crashed into White House barriers.

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