Originally published August 1, 2023 4:00 pm PDT
President Joe Biden spent the weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware with First Lady Jill Biden, adding to the 360 days he has vacationed so far during his presidency.
QUICK FACTS:
- President Biden spent the weekend at his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware with First Lady Jill over the weekend.
- The vacation adds to the nearly 39% of time Biden has spent away so far during his presidency.
- The Biden’s left Washington, D.C. just as Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s longtime friend and business associate, was expected to testify on Capitol Hill Monday.
- According to the Republican National Committee (RNC), since taking office, Biden has spent 360 days on vacation.
- In contrast, former President Donald Trump spent 132 days away from the White House, while Barack Obama only spent 38 days of his presidency either at rental properties in Hawaii or Martha’s Vineyard.
- White House Press Secretary Karine-Jean Pierre only briefly mentioned the latest Biden getaway: “This evening, the President will depart Maine en route to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he will remain over the next week. And, certainly, we’ll have more to share over the next couple of days,” Pierre said.
- According to Judicial Watch, funding Secret Service members on Biden’s Delaware trips from January 20, 2021, to June 4, 2021 alone cost taxpayers $1,125,646.50 in hotels, $10,893.40 in car rentals, $159,966.28 in air and rail travel for a total of $1,296,506.18.
JUDICIAL WATCH PRESIDENT TOM FITTON ON THE SECRET SERVICE “STONEWALLING” THE COSTS OF BIDEN’S EXTENSIVE TRAVEL:
“The costs of presidential travel and security is of obvious public interest,” Fitton said. “It is frustrating that after years of litigation through two presidential administrations, the Secret Service and Air Force are still stonewalling the costs of presidential travel.”
BACKGROUND:
- In January 2023, Biden spent $500,000 of taxpayer funds to build a wall around his Rehoboth Beach vacation home.
- The construction came as the Biden administration put an end to Arizona’s efforts to set up double-stacked metal shipping containers along the border to fill gaps in the wall and help quell illegal migration amid a historic surge during his time in office.
- Those containers eased the strain on Border Patrol in the state, according to Hank Auza, a local fifth-generation farmer who has multiple fields by the Morelos Dam, where the containers were removed.
- “It helped funnel the people to a certain location to where then the Border Patrol could manage them easier,” Auza said at the time. “This administration, to me, it seems like they want this to happen. And for what reason? I do not know.”
- “It was working,” said Alex Muller, president of Pasquinelli Produce Company. “It wasn’t bothering the farmers. It wasn’t bothering anybody that lives on the border because it doesn’t affect them. And they’re gone. In one day.”
- The construction of Biden’s beach home wall began in 2021 when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded a contract for additional security barriers.
- At the time, Ohio Republican Representative Jim Jordan questioned the construction, tweeting, “So, walls work at Joe Biden’s beach house, but not the southern border?”
