(Daily Mail) Joe Biden declined to take phone calls from children about Santa’s whereabouts on Christmas Eve – something the president has traditionally done in recent years.
Instead, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden could be seen picking up the phone while sitting in front of a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.
‘It’s almost time to set out the cookies and get the reindeers’ carrots ready — NORAD Command just said Santa is on his way to your neighborhood!’ she tweeted on Saturday evening.
There was no explanation from the White House as to why the 71-year-old first lady was the one making the calls rather than her 80-year-old husband, however during last year’s event there was an awkward exchange when one parent used the phonecall to insult the commander-in-chief.
Biden – who at 80 is the oldest president in history – has also faced questions about whether he is mentally-fit for office after a series of gaffes.
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden could be seen making the calls instead of her husband while sitting in front of a Christmas tree on Saturday night
Rather than make the phone calls, 80-year-old President Biden could be decorating a tree
A dad named Jared beaming in from Oregon said ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ – code on the right for ‘f**k Joe Biden’ – after his kids told the president what they wanted from Santa Claus.
Biden seemed unphased at the time. ‘Let’s Go Brandon, I agree,’ the president said in response.
This year, Biden posted a picture of him and his wife decorating a Christmas tree at the White House. It is not clear when the picture was taken.
‘Just a few finishing touches! Hope you and your loved ones are having a great Christmas Eve,’ the president wrote.
President Joe Biden and First lady Jill Biden read to patients and families at Children’s National Hospital, in Washington, D.C. on Friday. First ladies have been reading stories to the hospital’s patients at Christmastime since First Lady Bess Truman held the position
President Joe Biden gestures during a holiday visit to patients and their families on Friday
A dad told President Joe Biden (right) ‘Let’s Go Brandon!’ during the annual NORAD Santa-tracking call alongside First Lady Jill Biden (left) in 2021, pictured above from last year
Presidents have traditionally been known to take calls from children on Christmas Eve since 1955 when a misprinted advertisement in a Colorado Springs newspaper directed kids to call Santa at the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Operations Center.
The director of operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, ordered his staff to give all children who called a ‘current location’ of Santa Claus.
The tradition has continued every year since, with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) taking over the tracking of Santa in 1958.
Every president since Dwight D. Eisenhower has participated in the tradition and it is not clear if there has ever been a time when a president did not take these calls.
