The New York Times published an article Tuesday praising President Joe Biden’s aviator sunglasses, describing them as a symbol of his victories.
The article titled “The Return of Aviator Joe,” was written by Vanessa Friedman and described the sunglasses as being “front and center” to the president’s face as he recently broke out of COVID-19 isolation and achieved a legislative victory by signing the Inflation Reduction Act into law. The aviators are a representation of his victories, according to the Times.
“You know President Joe Biden is having a good day when he wears his aviators,” author Lis Smith told the New York Times. “You know he’s having a good month when you see him day after day wearing his aviators. It’s a sign he’s on a roll right now.”
The Times noticed that the sunglasses were “relegated mostly into the background” as the president handled “grim issues” such as the COVID-19 pandemic and his own infection, the war in Ukraine, and the economy. The president did not even bother to wear them at the G-7 Summit in June or at the annual White House Easter Egg Hunt, according to the article.
As the victories arose, the presence of the sunglasses returned, the Times described. The piece compared Biden to Hollywood actor Tom Cruise in the film “Top Gun: Maverick,” stating it is probably “not a coincidence” that the aviators’ re-emergence coincided with the film’s release.
“After all, as Jimmy Kimmel said when the president was his guest back in June, Mr. Biden ‘is to aviator sunglasses what Tom Cruise is to aviator sunglasses,'” the article noted. “The two men — or rather their signature characters — wear the same style (albeit sometimes with different frames) and have for decades. Ever since the original “Top Gun,” back in 1986, and, according to a White House spokeswoman, since Mr. Biden was a lifeguard in college.”
The aviators are naturally a part of the president’s “diplomatic gift set,” according to the New York Times. He presented sunglasses to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The piece also described that the president wore aviators to the confirmation of then-Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson at the White House South Lawn.
Huh. No aviators https://t.co/lvX2rkLWBQ
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) August 16, 2022
The aviators were reportedly featured in Biden’s first Instagram post in 2014, when the then-vice president played himself in a skit inspired by the HBO comedy series, “Veep,” according to the outlet.
“When he played himself (as VP) in a “Veep”-inspired White House correspondent’s dinner sketch that same year, he did so with his Ray-Bans, a leather jacket and his Corvette — but the glasses took center stage,” the Times article described. Tammy Haddad, a consultant on “Veep,” told the Times that the aviators represent that Biden is a “cool guy” and that he will “wave the American flag and save you.” (RELATED: New York Times Stealth-Edits Biden Sexual Assault Story, Removes History Of Unwanted Touching)
“People loved seeing Cruise in his aviators again,” Haddad added. “The president is following the same path hoping for the same results.”
The piece said it is “basic human psychology” for Americans to have “an almost Pavlovian reaction” to seeing the sunglasses on Biden as they would on Cruise.
“Besides, what better way, really, for anyone to suggest they are flying high?” the piece concluded.