Where’s Biden? On Vacation

Research

On The One-Year Anniversary Of His Disastrous Afghanistan Withdrawal, Biden Is Nowhere To Be Found

BIDEN WILL INTERUPT HIS VACATION TO SIGN TAX HIKES, BUT NOT TO MARK THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE FALL OF KABUL

On Monday, instead of publicly marking the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Embassy being evacuated and Kabul falling to the Taliban, Biden vacationed at the beach.
- Biden did not even release a statement or tweet about his botched withdrawal, avoiding taking ownership over one of the worst foreign policy failures in American history.
- When asked to answer questions on the beach a day earlier, Biden replied “No. Gotta go get some bathing suits.”
After a week of vacation, Biden stopped at the White House on Tuesday for a few hours to hold a bill signing, before heading to Delaware for another vacation.
Biden hides from tough questions by leaving town, having traveled to Delaware 48 times and Camp David 18 times in his first 18 months as president.
- Since taking office, Biden has spent a total of over 200 days on vacation.

WHY WON’T BIDEN DO INTERVIEWS OR TAKE QUESTIONS?

Biden campaigned on “transparency,” but he has repeatedly refused to answer questions from the press as president.
Biden’s presidency has been defined by his nearly non-existent interactions with the press.
- Biden has only done six sit-down interviews total this year – just three of which were with traditional press.
- Since July 1, Biden has taken just 62 questions from the press – going 31 of the past 47 days (65 percent) without taking a single question from the press.
- The White House admitted that they do not “recommend” Biden take “impromptu reporter questions.”
Biden has never done a Sunday show interview as president and has done only three town halls, “all of them on CNN” and with invite only audiences.

WHY WON’T BIDEN HOLD PRESS CONFERENCES?

Biden has done fewer press conferences than his past five predecessors at this point in his presidency.
Biden set a “modern record,” as he waited more than two months to hold his first press conference.
- Within the last century, “no president has gone as long as Biden without conducting a formal session with White House reporters.”
In September, Biden asked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to take questions, perhaps afraid of the questions American reporters would ask.
In November, Biden skipped a “traditional press conference” with the leaders of Canada and Mexico after the “Three Amigos” summit.

EVEN REPORTERS SAY BIDEN LACKS TRANSPARENCY

Despite the Biden administration’s promise to bring “truth and transparency back,” White House officials “routinely ask for anonymity.”
Reporters have repeatedly called out the Biden administration for its lack of transparency, with officials barring reporters from accessing facilities holding migrant children and blocking reporters from getting drone footage this past September.
- Politico’s Jonathan Lemire: “There has been less media access” under Biden than prior administrations.
- Los Angeles Times’ Noah Bierman was told that if he wanted to quote a Biden White House official verbatim, he could only do so “after the quotations were reviewed and approved by the White House.”
When Biden had COVID-19, the White House blocked the press from hearing from Biden’s doctor despite promising complete health transparency.
- One reporter called out the Biden administration for being the least transparent “of any White House in 50 years on a presidential illness.”
In June, 68 members of the White House press corps wrote to the Biden administration to end restrictions to events and allow more press access to the White House.
In September, after meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, White House aides stopped reporters from asking Biden questions, which led the press to file an official complaint with the White House.

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS FROM KARINE JEAN-PIERRE? SHE JUST DOESN’T “HAVE ANYTHING”

Biden’s Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is often accompanied by another White House official to her press briefings.
- In her first two months as Press Secretary, Jean-Pierre was joined by a co-briefer nearly two-thirds of the time.
When Jean-Pierre does have answers “they are often vague and rarely stray from pre-written talking points.”
At the podium, Jean-Pierre avoids answering questions about the many crises American families are facing.
- Jean-Pierre dodged when asked if the Bidenflation Scam bill will lower inflation in the short term.
- When asked if Americans have seen peak inflation, Jean-Pierre didn’t answer.
- For over a month, Jean-Pierre offered no answer on the baby formula shortage burdening mothers across the country including when the shortage will ease and who is “running point” on the shortage.
- Jean-Pierre has also resorted to redefining words such as “inflation,” “recession,” “transition” and “savings.”
Jean-Pierre has “struggled” and been called “inept” and “poorly received” by the press corps.
- William A. Jacobson, a law professor at Cornell Law School: “Karine Jean-Pierre, by contrast, appears unprepared, inept, and in need of support on stage from others.”
- A White House Reporter: “She is poorly received as she isn’t taking time to answer questions or banter with reporters on the issues of the day.”
- Jeffery McCall, a professor at DePauw University: “It’s clear Jean-Pierre has struggled in her role as press secretary…But the problems still need clear and sensible explanations, which are not regularly happening.”