(Daily Mail) Joe Biden bragged that he had a ‘code to blow up the world’ as he chatted about nuclear weapons on a visit to the world’s largest windmill factory.
The president went on to mistakenly call his predecessor ‘Congressman Trump’ in a gaffe-strewn appearance.
As he approached three yellow-vested workers at the facility in Colorado one of them appeared to ask the president an inaudible question.
Biden responded: ‘Now look, my, my marine carries that. It has a code to blow up the world. That doesn’t, this is not….nuclear weapons is it….alright, ok…you think I’m kidding.’
Biden told windmill workers he had a code to ‘blow up the world’
The codes for launching nuclear weapons – which are on a card known as the ‘nuclear biscuit’ – are carried in a black case called the ‘nuclear football’.
A military aide carries the case and stays close to the president when he is traveling.
In a subsequent speech at CS Wind in Pueblo, Colorado, Biden attacked cuts he said ‘Congressman Trump and Boebert want to do.’
That was a reference to Lauren Boebert, the Republican Colorado congresswoman whose district he visited on his trip.
The ‘nuclear football’ is officially known as the Presidential Emergency Satchel.
It is a bulky briefcase that contains atomic war plans and enables the president to transmit nuclear orders to the Pentagon.
The heavy case is carried by a military officer who is never far behind the president, whether the commander-in-chief is boarding a helicopter or exiting meetings with world leaders.
In the late 1950s, President Dwight Eisenhower and his advisers worried about vulnerability to a nuclear surprise attack.
So that the president could make quick decisions, a military aide started carrying a satchel of documents that would help him communicate with the Pentagon.
A military aide carries the ‘nuclear football’ which contains launch codes for nuclear weapons
The nuclear football leaves Downing Street after Joe Biden visits British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Jul 10, 2023
Initially, the satchel and military aide followed the president only during travel outside of Washington.
In the early 1960s under President John F. Kennedy it became known as the ‘football’.
This is believed to have been due to the Kennedy family’s liking for touch football.
Some vice presidents have also been accompanied by a military aide carrying a ‘nuclear football’ so they would have the codes in case something happened to the president.
Joe Biden called his predecessor ‘Congressman Trump’
