From WashingtonExaminer.com…
Ahead of another weekend trip to Delaware, President Joe Biden remains on pace to spend more time away from the White House than any of his recent predecessors.
Biden will head to Rehoboth Beach on Thursday evening to one of the two homes he owns in his home state. He spent more than a quarter of his first year in office in Delaware, typically on weekends, and has continued that trend in year two.
“Every time I get a chance, I go home to Delaware. You think I’m joking. I’m not,” Biden said in February.
Ahead of this weekend’s trip, Biden has spent an estimated 188 full or partial days away from the White House, with 130 spent at his Delaware properties, 52 at Camp David, and six in Nantucket.
If that pace holds, 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.
That’s good for tops in the modern history of the presidency. 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. Trump referred to his trips as “working vacations” and criticized Obama as a “habitual vacationer” who spent too much time on the golf course. Trump was then called out for his own jaunts to New Jersey and Florida after taking office.
Former President George W. Bush, frequently criticized for extensive stays at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, spent 1,020 days away from the White House during his two terms, while former President Bill Clinton stayed away 345 days.
While Bush’s vacationing pace is not much lower than Biden’s, the fierce criticism he received for doing so should be seen as a cautionary tale rather than a model to follow, argues presidential historian Craig Shirley.
