Jill Biden Trip Becomes Topic Of Debate
First Lady Jill Biden’s recent travels have sparked controversy due to the significant cost to U.S. taxpayers. According to reports, the First Lady’s flights from Delaware to France and back amounted to nearly $350,000, as she split her time between the D-Day commemoration in France and attending Hunter Biden’s court case in Delaware.
Hunter Biden faced trial over an allegedly illegal gun purchase, coinciding with the D-Day memorial services in France. Jill Biden chose to attend both events, resulting in multiple transatlantic flights. The U.K. Daily Mail reported that Jill Biden’s flights cost the U.S. government an estimated $345,400, as calculated by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation.
Fox News suggested that the actual cost could be even higher, estimating around $200,000 per flight hour for the government plane typically used by the First Lady. The Democratic Party has agreed to cover the cost equivalent to a commercial flight, but taxpayers are responsible for the remaining expenses.
A spokesperson for the First Lady stated, “In accordance with relevant regulations utilized across administrations, the government has reimbursed the value of a first-class fare for these flights to Wilmington and back to Paris.” However, the White House has not disclosed the exact costs.
The reported costs do not account for additional expenses incurred by staffers, White House aides, or Secret Service personnel. TravelMath.com estimates that each leg of a trip from Wilmington to Paris would cost an average person $110,528. Considering Jill Biden’s multiple flights last week, the Daily Mail estimates the total cost at around $345,400.
Jill Biden’s itinerary included a flight from Wilmington, Delaware, to Paris on Wednesday, a return flight to Wilmington the next day to attend Hunter Biden’s trial, and another flight back to Paris on Friday to join her husband for D-Day commemoration events.
The White House Military Office is responsible for calculating flight costs and reporting them to the relevant agencies. First ladies typically travel on a Boeing C-32, with the Air Force calculating the reimbursable rate for C-32 flights at $13,816 per hour, according to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation.
President Biden also faced criticism during the D-Day memorial event. He was criticized for comments about Russian casualties in Ukraine and for allegedly plagiarizing Ronald Reagan’s famous “Boys of Pointe du Hoc” speech from the 40th anniversary of D-Day in 1984. Additionally, some felt that Biden treated the D-Day commemoration as an afterthought.
The cost of Jill Biden’s desire to attend both events in such a short time frame is more than five times the average U.S. annual salary, raising questions about the appropriateness of such expenditures during a period of economic scrutiny.