Biden’s at the Beach Again, Has Taken More Vacation Time Than Any Other President at This Point in Their Term – Opinion

The President Joe Biden decided to travel to Delaware this weekend to spend another 188 vacation days from his White House home. It’s not as if there’s much going on, right? At the rate he’s going, he could become the most highly-vacationed president in US history.

When he’s not vacationing in Delaware, he also likes to visit Camp David and Nantucket. The following is how his sojourns are broken down: 130 days spent in Rehoboth, Wilmington or Frederick, Delaware; 52 days at Camp David, Maryland’s presidential retreat, and six days on Nantucket, a luxury island. There is no word on whether John Kerry windsurfed on the island with him.

Babies are hungry. Families can’t afford gas. There is no border.

Joe Biden at the beach. https://t.co/o2OkHe5pZV

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 5, 2022

We reported Friday that Biden had spent over a quarter his first year as president relaxing in Delaware. This is the highest amount of time for an inaugural year ever recorded. He has maintained this pace so far in year 2. “Every time I get a chance, I go home to Delaware. You think I’m joking. I’m not,” Biden said in February.

No, Joe, we didn’t think you were joking.

According to the Washington Examiner, if the pace continues, “Biden will spend roughly 553 days away from the White House, which he has referred to as a ‘gilded cage,’ over his first term, or 1,106 days over two terms.” Luckily I don’t think we have to worry about a second term, because his prospects look unlikely at best.

Former President Donald Trump spent 381 days away from the White House while in office, and former President Barack Obama spent 328 days out over two terms. Former President George W. Bush was the most absentee during both his terms. The former President Bill Clinton was absent for only 345 days. He was very busy.

Biden outperforms them all.

Back in the day, “Dubya” used to take a lot of heat for his vigorous vacationing. Bush Jr. visited Bush Jr.’s ranch 77 more times over the course of his two terms. That is 490 days, or nearly a year. When asked about the visits to his home state, Bush told the Associated Press at the time: ‘I’m able to clear my mind, and it helps me put it all in perspective.’

Presidential historian Craig Shirley doesn’t think it’s a good look for a president to be away from the White House so often, especially during times of crisis:

“There’s a public relations angle to it. If the country is in crisis, it’s better for the president to stay in the White House,” he said. “I used to get mad at Bush when he’d be seen chopping trees when the country was going through all these problems. It showed insensitivity towards the American people’s needs, I believed.

White House Spokesman Andrew Bates has previously stated that “presidents of the United States are constantly on the job, regardless of their location—whether they’re on a state visit overseas or just 100 miles from the White House for a short trip to Wilmington.”

Do we have to be critical of a president who gets some downtime, even though he is responsible for one the highest-stress jobs anywhere in the world? If he’s doing a good job—no. But as Shirley points out, when the country is in crisis, it’s not reassuring to the people that their president is on the beach again. It’s been over 114 days since Joe’s given a press conference.

Between skyrocketing inflation, a baby formula crisis, record gas prices, and a war in Ukraine, just to name some of the issues we’re facing, America needs a president who isn’t off building sandcastles but who is at his desk in the White House.