Biden is primed to end his second full year in office the same way he started: in hiding.
But after a catastrophic two years — in which Americans have seen historic inflation, record gas prices, supply chain shortages, open borders, disastrous foreign policy, runaway bureaucracy, and so much more — one metric stands out above the rest: Biden’s stunning lack of transparency and accessibility.
In 2022, Biden spent 146 days — 40% of the year — on vacation (for a total of 289 days since he took office — 40% of his presidency — on vacation).
- That figure includes more than just weekends — though the White House insists Biden “conduct[s] his work from wherever he is, on any vacation, on any time he is in Delaware” — and is far more taxpayer-funded vacation than any other president in modern history.
- In total, Biden has spent 198 days in Delaware (including 165 days at his home in Wilmington, where his team claims there are no visitor logs).
In 2022, Biden held 12 press conferences (for a total of 22 press conferences after two years in office).
In 2022, Biden did just 13 interviews with outlets that could be considered “press” (for a total of just 35 interviews after two years in office).
- By contrast, Kamala Harris did at least 72 interviews in 2022 (131 interviews since taking office); even Jill Biden did 13 interviews in 2022 (37 interviews since taking office).
- Recent presidents had already far eclipsed Biden’s total number of interviews by the middle of their first year in office.
- Biden conducted HALF as many press interviews in 2022 as he did in his first year, when he participated in fewer interviews than any president in modern history.
- Biden did zero local news interviews or town halls in 2022, despite it being an election year.
- At one point, Biden went 126 days — February 10 to June 16, 2022 — without doing a single interview.
POLITICO called it Biden’s “bunker mentality,” and it certainly hasn’t subsided.
Will Biden stop dodging the American people in 2023? Unlikely.
