Joe Biden has hit a few records already in his time in office including the highest gas prices ever and historic 40-year-high record inflation.
But he just hit another high: more vacation time than any of his immediate predecessors at this point in their terms.
Biden came down with COVID on July 21. Then he was in isolation for 13 days with COVID. The minute he got two negative tests he was out the door to Delaware for the weekend.
He thereafter left for his latest vacation on August 10, staying at the $20 million mansion of a Democratic donor on Kiawah Island in South Carolina for almost a week, coming back on August 16 to sign the falsely-named Inflation Reduction Act, and then heading out that same night back to Delaware.
He’s scheduled to come back on Wednesday for a DNC event and then he’s expected to leave back out to Delaware for another vacation weekend.
At this point, maybe the question shouldn’t be how many vacation days he takes, but does he ever work?
His vacation time has moved past Barack Obama, Donald Trump and George W. Bush — he’s spent more than 150 days in Delaware according to journalist Mark Knoller who keeps track of such things.
Knoller’s tally also showed that former President Donald Trump had spent a total of 132 days between his Mar-a-Lago resort, which he visited 17 times, and his golf club in Bedminster, NJ, where he traveled 13 times.
Former President Barack Obama had taken eight vacations 19 months into his term, racking up 38 away days to Hawaii and Martha’s Vineyard.
And former President George W. Bush had visited his Texas ranch 14 times, for a total of 100 days away.
Biden has also been to Camp David 18 times. According to a GOP count, he’s spent more than 200 days on vacation and about 35 percent of his term so far on vacation.
This is at a time when people are being crushed by Bidenflation, and the “Suffering Index” is at an all-time high. Americans are putting off their vacations and discretionary spending. On the first anniversary of the debacle of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, Biden was at the beach. No one has yet been held responsible for any of the epic failures of that withdrawal that resulted in the death of 13 Americans and hundreds being injured. Hundreds of Americans were also left behind after the pullout that Biden and his team lied about.
“How out-of-touch can Joe Biden get? Biden is spending nearly all of August on vacation while Americans are forced to cancel their summer travel because of historic inflation, high gas prices, and a recession. Biden should stop jet-setting from beach to beach and focus on fixing the crises he created,” RNC spokeswoman Emma Vaughn said in a statement on Saturday.
Biden’s press secretary tried to say that it was a “non-stop job” wherever Biden was, but Biden has killed that tactic himself in the past by making it clear he knows he’s on “vacation” and you shouldn’t be bothering him.
Is this vacation gambit an effort to hide him? Perhaps. When he’s not in the spotlight, we don’t see the constant gaffes. We know that Democratic candidates have been doing all they can, not to be seen with him, hoping his lack of popularity doesn’t taint their campaigns. Maybe this is a bit like hiding him in the basement during his campaign: out of sight, out of mind, and people’s anger will lessen.
But if that is the aim it doesn’t sound like it’s helping much because Biden’s approval is still in the basement and being on constant vacation makes him seem even more disconnected.