Former President Joe Biden, 83, moved slowly and stiffly across the show field at the Audrain Newport Concours d’Elegance & Motor Week at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, R.I., on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, in an unannounced appearance that has renewed concern about his health less than two years after he left the White House.
Accounts of the day differ. The appearance is dated Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026; classiccars.ride-ct.com places the surprise visit on Sunday morning at Fort Adams and roadandtrack.com, in a story published Oct. 5, also says Sunday. Biden’s own Instagram post refers to “spending Sunday in Newport.” Radar Online, in a report published Oct. 6, dated the outing to Saturday, Oct. 3.
Footage circulating online shows Biden lifting a hand to onlookers, then moving stiffly, at a cautious pace, toward a waiting blacked-out SUV, agents of his Secret Service detail flanking him at either side. Local reporters called out for a few words; he waved a hand and offered nothing but repeated thanks. He stayed beside the vehicle for a moment, turned back to hold up a jacket embroidered with his name, then eased himself slowly inside while an agent held the door.
Before stepping in, Biden turned toward former “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno, the event’s chairman, and muttered, “I don’t want to go.”
Critics React Online
The rare public outing drew a crowd and a wave of commentary. Critics on X reacted to the Rhode Island video. One user wrote: “Ask him today if he remembers even BEING THERE yesterday…go ahead! Ask him!” A second user wrote: “Funny. Someone had Biden’s name stitched on his clothing so he remembers what his name is.” Others chose a gentler tone, noting that he is fighting cancer. Biden, for his part, showed no sign that the day troubled him.
Biden is living with stage 4 cancer and continues treatment. After he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race he “was diagnosed with prostate cancer.”
In August, his son Hunter Biden said the disease had advanced, describing it as painful and debilitating. “The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further,” Hunter Biden said. He added that he wished his father would complain more about his condition.
New York City hosted Biden’s last major public appearance before Newport, the 25th anniversary commemoration of the 9/11 attacks. Every other living former president joined him there, and at Ground Zero he looked frail and at moments pained beside his wife, Jill Biden.
A Corvette Draws a Crowd
Rumor had been building all morning about the car’s owner. Near the entrance, a 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray in Goodwood Green sat by itself, and talk of who owned it traveled across the grounds. Spectators massed by midday outside a cordoned-off area around the two-seater, and agents kept them at a distance.
Leno, who hosts the classic car series “Jay Leno’s Garage,” has been associated with the Audrain Automobile Museum in downtown Newport for a number of years. He invited Biden to bring the car and show it off.
At a welcoming ceremony, Biden received a lifetime museum membership numbered No. 46 — a nod to his being the 46th president. Myron Wood of Warwick gave him a quilted jacket embroidered with his name. Judges handed Biden’s Corvette the Spirit of Audrain Award, and polite applause from the crowd closed out the ceremony. Accompanying Biden was his grandson Robert Hunter Biden II, the son of the late Beau Biden and his wife, Hallie.
He spent part of the afternoon smiling behind the wheel, shaking hands and greeting well-wishers.
Biden posted a message to Instagram on the afternoon of Oct. 4. The day in Newport with his grandson Hunter, his friend Jay and some incredible vehicles was one he enjoyed, he said, adding that the green 1967 Corvette from Wilmington was looking especially nice and thanking Nick Schorsch and his team for hosting the event.
Organizers of the concours used a Facebook post to call it an honor to welcome him, adding that it was clear he is a true car enthusiast at heart.
A Wedding Gift From 1966
His father, Joe Biden Sr., who managed a major Chevrolet dealership in Delaware, gave him the convertible as a wedding gift when Biden married his first wife, Neilia Biden, in 1966. A 327-cubic-inch V8 and a four-speed manual transmission came with it, along with an original sticker price of $5,700.
Biden has owned the car for nearly six decades, and the odometer now reads more than 200,000 miles. He has said he once pushed it to 132 mph. His sons Beau and Hunter had the engine rebuilt for him as a Christmas gift.
Biden appeared on “Jay Leno’s Garage” with the Corvette in October 2016, when he was vice president. He told Leno he had driven it only three times since becoming vice president in 2009, then lit the rear tires up in a burnout. Viewers have given that episode more than 4.6 million views on YouTube.
Automotive photographer Larry Chen met Biden at the concours and recounted the exchange on Instagram: he told the former president he is the only one to have held the office who knows how to do a burnout.