Biden flies from one vacation to another after vowing to end Gaza war, with Middle East on the brink
President Biden has spent weeks on vacation even as the crisis in the Middle East spirals out of control, and his critics are noticing.
President Biden declared ending the war in Gaza to be his top goal to achieve before the end of his term, yet he has gone from one vacation to another as the Middle East becomes increasingly volatile.
Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday, July 21. Since then, he has gone on two vacations and has spent every weekend either at his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, or the presidential retreat at Camp David, according to White House pool reports dating back to July 21.
Following Biden's speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last Monday, he and his family spent the week vacationing at the California estate of billionaire Democratic donor Joe Kiani.
He will be vacationing again this week, but this time at his own home in Delaware. He has no public events scheduled for the week. In a preview of the week given to members of the press, White House staff wrote, "The President and the First Lady will remain in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware."
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The weeks of vacationing and long weekends come after Biden himself declared that ending the war in Gaza and securing the return of hostages held by Hamas would be the top priority for his final months in office. He made the declaration on July 22, just one day after dropping out of the race.
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Cease-fire talks have made little to no progress since the end of July. The conflict appears more likely to expand than fizzle out, with Israel launching and receiving massive attacks from Hezbollah, an Iranian terrorist proxy group based in Lebanon.
Biden's critics have begun to sound the alarm about the lack of clear direction at the White House. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., told Fox News bluntly on Thursday, "I'm not quite sure who's running the place."
Former President Donald Trump has also attacked Biden for his lack of leadership. Meanwhile, the White House has said only that Biden is "closely monitoring" the situation.
"Who is negotiating for us in the Middle East? Bombs are dropping all over the place!" Trump wrote on social media. He expanded on the topic in a statement later Sunday.
"We don't even have a president. We have a fascist person running who's incompetent, and we have a president who's not even around," Trump said. "He went to California for a vacation because they threw him essentially out of the party. And then he came back home and I said, oh, is he going to go to the White House? No, he went to Delaware to take another vacation. And you got Russia over there with nuclear threats. We're going to have a president. We've got to have a real president that's respected."
In a statement to Fox News, the White House dismissed the criticism. "There is no such thing as a presidential ‘vacation.’ The President is always working wherever he goes. He has been engaged in tireless diplomacy with the leaders of Israel, Egypt, and Qatar to try to secure a hostage deal and ceasefire. He continues to ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself and we are coordinating closely with Israel after attacks from Hezbollah over the weekend. After inheriting an economy in freefall and alliances in tatters from his predecessor, President Biden created the strongest economy in the world, rallied the world to stand up to Putin, and finally put us in a position to outcompete China," said White House spokesperson Saloni Sharma.
