November 9, 2020
Watch: Biden's Rescue Pet to Become White House Top Dog
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 1 MIN.
From the shelter to the White House: That's the path Major, the rescue dog President-elect Joe Biden adopted in 2018, finds himself on, reports political news outlet The Hill.
Biden and his wife, Jill, adopted Major, a German Shepard, from the Delaware Humane Association after a period of fostering, NBC News reported.
Some news outlets said that Major will be the first rescue dog to reside at the White House, but, The Hill noted, "According to The Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, former President Lyndon Johnson's pup Yuki was also a rescue that his daughter, Luci Nugent, found at a Texas gas station."
Dogs have been a fixture at the White House for most of the last one hundred years, reports pointed out - with the exception being Donald Trump's single-term occupancy. Trump "couldn't abide pets," according to an NPR report.
The Bidens made Major part of their social media campaign, with the German Shepard posing with them in several photos posted online. In a video clip that Biden shared with Twitter, a clip from a Trump campaign showed Trump at a rally, saying, "How would I look walking a dog on the White House lawn?" Shaking his head, Trump added, "I don't feel good."
Text accompanying the Biden tweet urged: "Let's put dogs back in the White House."
Joe and Jill Biden adopted a puppy named Champ while Biden served as Vice President in the Obama administration, news outlets recalled. Champ will also move into the White House with the family when the president-elect takes office, sharing the title of "First Dog" with Major.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
