Aubrey Plaza had a full-on 'stare-down' with Joe Biden, made his face red at a youth conference as a teen

Emlyn Travis
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Aubrey Plaza is detailing her roller-coaster relationship with fellow Delawarean and current U.S. President Joe Biden.

The White Lotus star, whose recent Saturday Night Live opening monologue featured a personal shout-out from Biden, told The New Yorker that she has met the president multiple times throughout her life, including at a "Joe Biden youth-leadership conference" when she was 16.

"The whole point of the conference was to allow students to speak out on different issues," she explained. "They shuttled us from room to room, and there was a different speaker in each room, and it was all leading up to this climax where we were going to sit in the auditorium, and Joe himself was going to get up on stage and give his speech."

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 20: attends the Los Angeles Season 2 Premiere of HBO Original Series "The White Lotus" at Goya Studios on October 20, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic); BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - DECEMBER 02: (NO UK Sales For 28 Days Post Create Date) US President Joe Biden waits to meet Prince William, Prince of Wales at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum on December 02, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Prince and Princess of Wales are visiting the coastal city of Boston to attend the second annual Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony, an event which celebrates those whose work is helping to repair the planet. During their trip, which will last for three days, the royal couple will learn about the environmental challenges Boston faces as well as meeting those who are combating the effects of climate change in the area. (Photo by Samir Hussein - Pool/WireImage)

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic; Samir Hussein - Pool/WireImage Aubrey Plaza; Joe Biden

At the time, Plaza said she felt "really angry" about the entire event because the students involved hadn't been able to share their thoughts. "I had a stare-down with Joe Biden from the audience, because he asked how it went, and I raised my hand immediately," she recalled. "I was, like, 'It's bulls---. This conference sucks. You didn't let us talk. This was supposed to be about the students.'"

"He did not like it," Plaza continued. "I remember his face got really red. He used to get really fiery when he would make speeches. It was crazy."

The pair reconnected years later when Plaza's hit series Parks and Recreation filmed an episode — which featured an appearance from then-Vice President Biden — at the White House during its fifth season.

"Before the tour, I saw him, and he knew my name," she said. "He always tells me the same story. His first wife went to the same high school that I went to, so he always tells me about how he used to wait outside the convent for her, because it's an all-girls Catholic school — and it's a very sweet story, but I've heard it a lot. I was, like, 'I know, Joe! She went to Ursuline!'"

When Plaza went on a tour of the Vice President's office, however, she discovered that Biden had been briefed on their connection before her arrival. "I saw a note on his desk that had been written by his assistant on official White House stationery that said, 'Aubrey Plaza' — underlined — 'Wilmington, Delaware. You met her at the Joe Biden youth-leadership conference when she was 16,'" she said. "I was, like, 'I knew it! He doesn't remember me at all!'"

Betrayed, Plaza decided to nick the note. "I pocketed it, and Mike Schur, the creator of Parks and Rec, was horrified," she said. "He was like, 'You cannot steal from the White House!' And I was like, 'I don't give a s---! I know what he did! He didn't know me!'"

Plaza has since lost the piece of paper. "Can you imagine if I'd kept it? I could've framed it or sold it. Now he's the President — I had no idea," she said. "But, yeah, I stole it right off his desk. And there's got to be cameras in the White House. But they didn't do anything to me."

While hosting Saturday Night Live in January, Biden congratulated Plaza for being voted "the most famous person out of Delaware" — and for making it out of White Lotus alive — in a hilarious video message. The actress expanded on her victory against the politician during her New Yorker interview.

"I beat Joe — this was before he was the President, but he didn't get second place. He got, like, sixth place," she said. "It was me, maybe Valerie Bertinelli, and Henry Heimlich, the guy who created the Heimlich maneuver. I'm pretty sure it was us three."

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