--- title: "Watch President Biden Get Attacked by a Brood X Cicada" description: "The White House's plane was grounded by cicadas. One particularly adventurous cicada managed to get a hold of POTUS Joe Biden." date: "2021-06-10" modified: "2021-06-10" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/president-biden-attacked-cicada" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "cicadas" - "joe biden" - "the digest" - "white house" --- # Watch President Biden Get Attacked by a Brood X Cicada ![The White House's plane was grounded by cicadas. One particularly adventurous cicada managed to get a hold of POTUS Joe Biden.]() *\Image: CNN (Screenshot)\* ## Cicadas Rising On Tuesday, a White House press plane was grounded by a swarm of Brood X cicadas that had recently emerged from their 17 year slumber. The tiny critters managed to get into the engine, preventing the plane from leaving ahead of Biden on his first trip overseas as president, [*The Wrap* reports](). In fact, the attack got so bad, one particularly adventurous cicada appears to have managed to get hold of POTUS. As seen in CNN footage, Biden attempted to swat it away from his neck. https://twitter.com/Yamiche/status/1402651785538334726 Moments later, Biden warned a nearby crowd of reporters "watch out for the cicadas. I just got one. It got me." ## The Flood Estimated [trillions]() of Brood X cicadas emerged last month, crawling out of the soil all over North America. They're practically everywhere, but luckily, predators including copperhead snakes, birds, squirrels, wasps, and spiders are waiting for the biggest snack of their lives, as [*The Guardian* reports](). One lucky cicada, though, seems to have gotten through the defenses. "Where was the Secret Service?!?!" writer Charlotte Clymer [chimed in.]() It's unlikely federal investigators will attempt to seek out the cicada responsible for the attack. As for the White House's grounded plane, the swarm offensive didn't come as a shock. "I’m not surprised," *CNN*’s Manu Raju said on air Wednesday morning. "The first thing I thought of was, 'It happened to me. It’s going to happen to you, too.'" "And it clearly did here with this press plane because those beasts are everywhere in Washington, D.C. Outside my house I’m stepping on dead cicadas everywhere," he added. Biden will have to watch his back. "It happened once and it certainly can happen again," Raju warned. **READ MORE:** [Watch President Biden Do Battle With a Cicada: ‘It Got Me’ (Video)]() \[*The Wrap*\] **More on cicadas:** *[Cicadas Are Crazy Good At Math.. Here’s Why]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()