Despite calling the midterms “the most consequential election in our history,” President Joe Biden will take a long weekend vacation in Delaware with less than three weeks to go before voting day.
No doubt Biden is permanently tired at this point, but the fact that he can take a vacation when 23 states have already started early voting and a handful more will start before the weekend tells you that his relevance to the process is highly in question.
At least his status as a positive to the election of Democrats, that is. Maybe he was told to take a vacation because he would only hurt candidates by campaigning for them at this point.
Vacations are nothing new for Biden, who has spent more than a quarter of his presidency away from the White House, according to a CNN report.
Helping or hurting?
Remember when Democrats complained that former President Donald Trump was away from the White House too much?
Well, Biden’s 174 days in Delaware over the past two years beats Trump’s 158 days away, and Biden also spent another 64 days at Camp David.
And while it’s true that the President is the President anywhere he goes–he never really gets a day off– it sends a negative message for him to be away from the White House so much.
The White House Press Secretary denied that Biden was absent while away from the Oval Office.
“He’s been around”
“He’s been around. He just went to Colorado. He just went to California. He just went to Portland. We’re going to go to Pennsylvania. We’re going to go to Florida. And we’ll have more to share,” Jean-Pierre said about the president’s plans at a press briefing Monday.
But it’s rare for a president to take off so close to the midterms when there is so much last-minute campaigning to do.
It’s also possible, however, that Biden is meeting with key personnel while in Delaware. We wouldn’t know since he hasn’t released visitor logs showing who he’s met with.
“As all Americans can agree, it’s important for leaders to avoid becoming ensconced in Washington, D.C.,” Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said, but it seems clear that ship sailed long ago for Biden.