A Dorchester woman on Sunday missed a Mother’s Day call from her son, but she’ll have a message from his boss to look forward to.
“Hey mom, it’s Joe Biden,” the president announced into the speakerphone on the Resolute Desk alongside Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, the former mayor of Boston. “I’m standing in the Oval Office with a guy who says that he’s your son. He’s the secretary of labor, I’m just calling to check whether that’s true.”
The president shared a short video of the call to Mary Walsh — which also featured an off-camera “Hi, Mom!” from Vice President Kamala Harris — on social media Sunday night. “Don’t forget to call your moms today, folks,” the official @POTUS account tweeted.
When the call went to voicemail, Walsh could be seen digging in his pockets, perhaps in an effort to text his mom, but he rolls with it as Biden starts speaking.
After Biden gestures toward Walsh and says, “Say hi to your mom, man,” Walsh exclaims, “Hi, Ma, how are ya?”
The former mayor, reportedly close with his mother, said last year that he missed Mary “most of all” during the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic forced the pair to cancel their frequent visits, which had “been hard for her, and it breaks my heart,” Walsh told Boston Magazine.
The president offered a few kind words to make Mary Walsh proud.
“Sorry we missed you, mom ... we just wanted to say ‘hi.’ Anyway, it won’t surprise you, he’s doing a hell of a job, but I’ll deny having said that,” Biden said. “I’ll catch you when you’re home. Love you, see you, bye bye.”
Walsh then cracked up the Oval Office by suggesting, “She’s probably sitting there not answering the phone.”
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