President Joe Biden filmed with Jay Leno on Friday afternoon at the James Rowley Training Center in Maryland, which few would argue is a productive use of the president’s time.
While the press pool could not witness the taping but noted that there was a track that had a corvette, “an old pickup truck, and a newer pickup truck,” The Hill White House Correspondent Alex Gangitano tweeted.
One can assume that all of these vehicles are gas-guzzlers, despite Democrats’ constant push toward electric vehicles. Maybe when the feature airs Americans will be amazed to see these cars running on electricity or vegetable oil, but nobody should hold their breath.
And speaking of tracks, 74 percent of Americans believe the nation is on the wrong one, according to a recent NBC poll . There’s nothing wrong with the president having a little fun, except these are difficult times right now for a lot of people. The fact that this has to do with driving vehicles recreationally is also mildly insulting to Americans who are still struggling to afford gas amidst inflation and poor energy policies.
Jay Leno is not the one at fault here — whoever decided that this was a good idea at the White House is. A handful of people might view this as positive optics for the Commander-in-Chief, while many others will view it as a frivolous waste of time. However, Leno might not gain any new fans by doing this, although he admittedly has nothing to lose at this point in his career.
The president is already under scrutiny for his frequent visits to his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, beach house on the weekends. In fact, Biden left for Delaware once again after filming the show, according to the president’s public schedule. FiveThirtyEight has his disapproval average at 53.5 percent, and his decision to do fun television spots and leave Washington is not helping him in that area.
Who knows, perhaps it’s a good thing that the president is not working as much as many would like. It leaves less room for error.