Written by Finlay Mead

A smoothie-clutching Joe Biden was swamped by reporters asking for the president’s take on Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death, but the politician had been busy getting his sweat on.

News broke around the world today that notorious warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin — whose Wagner group staged a failed mutiny against the Putin regime in June — has been killed alongside several of his comrades in a fiery plane crash, according to Russian officials, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.

Naturally, this has sparked suspicion that Russian President Vladimir Putin may have been somehow involved in his death, given the animosity between the two after the failed coup.

The Western press were keen to investigate this possibility and swiftly tracked down US President Joe Biden to see if he could offer any insight, given his role as Commander In Chief of the US Army and head of NATO, who are deeply involved in Russia’s war in Ukraine and all the subsequent political fractures in the region.

However, journalists were left somewhat disappointed after Biden emerged to speak to the press pack but quickly confessed that he “didn’t know enough” to offer insights or information on the incident because he’d been in the gym working out for “an hour and a half”. However, he claimed that “not much” happens in Russia without Putin’s say-so, hinting at where he believes responsibility lies…

Clutching a purple smoothie, he quickly walked away, likely back to the White House to get briefed on the ongoing action.

WATCH: The President confesses to missing the news after hitting the gym.

While it makes for viewing that is both humorous and concerning, we don’t really hold it against the president that he was momentarily out of the loop, especially given that he was spending this time investing in his health and well-being, a crucial undertaking for a man of his age holding down one of the most important jobs on earth.

Biden’s fitness has always been important to him, with The Daily Mail reporting in 2021 that the president “starts his mornings by working out with weights – oftentimes with a trainer”. He also has a notoriously sweet tooth, boasting a particular penchant for Gatorade and ice cream, so getting on the elliptical to burn those extra calories is a central part of his routine. All of this explains why the president has aged so well compared to your average eighty-year-old.