“White Lotus” star Aubrey Plaza has explained why she swiped a note that mentioned her name from President Joe Biden’s desk while on a White House tour.
Plaza, who – like Biden – has ties to Delaware, told The New Yorker that she’s met the president many times and grabbed the note years after an encounter she had with him as a 16-year-old.
The “Park and Recreation” actor said she attended his youth leadership conference as a high school student where participants were able to address “different issues.”
She said Biden was set to give a speech to students at the climax of the event and while she believed the intent was to get students’ points of view, she compared herself to an aggressive, Tracy Flick from “Election”-like student.
“I was really angry about the conference—and, in fact, I had a stare-down with Joe Biden from the audience, because he asked how it went, and I raised my hand immediately, and I was, like, ‘It’s bullshit. This conference sucks. You didn’t let us talk. This was supposed to be about the students,’” Plaza said.
“I was always trying to rabble-rouse at that point. And he did not like it. I remember his face got really red. He used to get really fiery when he would make speeches. It was crazy.”
The two later crossed paths when Biden was vice president and “Parks & Recreation” filmed an episode at the White House.
Plaza said she spotted a note on his desk during the tour that included her name, “Wilmington, Delaware” and the fact the two encountered each other at his conference.
“And I was, like, ‘I knew it! He doesn’t remember me at all!’ But that’s how politicians are, you know? I pocketed it, and Mike Schur, the creator of ‘Parks and Rec,’ was horrified,” Plaza said.
“He was, like, ‘You cannot steal from the White House!’ And I was, like, ‘I don’t give a shit! I know what he did! He didn’t know me!’”
Plaza told The New Yorker she’s sad that she later lost the note as she could have framed it or sold it.
“I stole it right off his desk,” Plaza added.
“And there’s got to be cameras in the White House. But they didn’t do anything to me.”
Plaza recently touched on her shared Delaware connection with Biden during her “Saturday Night Live” monologue last month.
The actor boasted about her win in an online poll that determined she was the most famous person from the state.
She indicated Biden was “livid” about the result and turned to a video from the president.
“Aubrey, you’re the most famous person out of Delaware and there’s no question about that. We’re just grateful you made it out of ‘White Lotus’ alive,” Biden quipped.