White House Moves Biden Out of Shouting Distance After Vacay – Watch
The White House kept reporters outside shouting distance on President Joe Biden’s return from his vacation in Delaware on Monday, a move that drew criticism from conservatives who accused the administration of trying to hide Biden from the public.
Biden returned to Washington on Monday afternoon after a two-week vacation at his beach house in Rehoboth Beach. As he exited Air Force One, reporters shouted questions about the economy, inflation, and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. But Biden did not answer any questions, and he was quickly whisked away by Secret Service agents.
“Any comment on the special counsel, Mr. President?” one reporter shouted.
“Will you be handing your bank records over to Congress, President Biden?” shouted another.
During a bike ride in Rehoboth Beach on Sunday morning, Biden told reporters, “We’re looking at it,” about whether he would visit Maui.
“No comment,” the president responded later Sunday after a trip to the beach when asked about the rising death toll from the fires.
The Maui wildfire is the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in over a century with 96 deaths so far.
“Absolutely embarrassing. The largest wildfire tragedy in modern American history, and the President has nothing significant to say about it?” wrote radiologist and National Review contributor Pradheep Shanker.
“It seems like the president should have something to say about that,” the Washington Examiner’s Byron York posted on X.
MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan called Biden’s response an “unforced error” that would “hurt him.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked at her daily press briefing whether the American people should see the president working during the Hawaii wildfire crisis rather than vacationing at the beach.
“You all have gotten pool reports on who the president has connected with,” Jean-Pierre responded. “The [FEMA] administrator has been there for two whole days, two whole days on the ground by the president’s request to make sure that the government has what they have, the local government has what they have, the people of Maui have what they have.”
Biden returns from his beach house in Delaware without answering any questions about the special counsel investigation into Hunter.
He walked straight to the Oval Office, far away from the press. pic.twitter.com/O3ZMbjHyV5
— Diana Glebova (@DianaGlebova) August 14, 2023
