Keeping count of Biden’s vacation days

NEWS AND OPINION:

The Republican National Committee is dutifully charting how many vacation days that President Biden has taken during his time in the White House. Here are the latest numbers:

“As of July 7, 2023, Biden has spent 352 days — 39.2% of his presidency — on vacation. Biden’s vacation habit still outpaces virtually every other president in modern history,” the committee said in a written report shared with Inside the Beltway.

The president’s most recent stay in Delaware over the weekend marked Mr. Biden’s 74th trip to Delaware since taking office — his most frequent destination as president, the committee said.

“Since taking office, Biden will have spent 63 of 128 weekends in Delaware and another 27 weekends at Camp David. Biden has spent just 25 weekends — 19.5% — in Washington, D.C.,” the committee concluded in its brief but telling report.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel also said that Mr. Biden headed for the Delaware beaches even “after the worst jobs report of his presidency,” issued as many families continue to live from paycheck to paycheck.

“Biden tries to downplay his failures, but Americans know Bidenomics is to blame for high prices and falling savings,” Mrs. McDaniel added.

MEANWHILE IN VIRGINIA

Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the Republican Party of Virginia and other party committees have joined forces to foster a proactive route for voting in the commonwealth. They have launched Secure Your Vote Virginia, a website with a candid message about voter registration and early voting in the state.

Every vote counts, they say.

“Your vote matters and we’re going to need engagement from everyone interested in moving Virginia forward to be successful. We can’t go into Election Day down thousands of votes, so I’m thrilled to have such strong partners coming alongside us in this effort. We fundamentally believe Secure Your Vote Virginia is how, together, we can win in 2023 and beyond,” Mr. Youngkin said.

State Party Chairman Rich Anderson, also in a written statement, said Republicans are “united ahead of November behind a strong slate of commonsense conservative candidates.”

“Now, we need to lean in and leave nothing for chance, which is why Secure Your Vote Virginia is so important. This data-driven effort to get Republicans to vote early is how we win in November. We have a clear mission: get in front of as many voters as we can to assure them voting absentee by mail or early in person is easy, secure, and necessary,” he said.

SWITCHING SIDES

A Fox News headline Tuesday tells all about another turnaround in the volatile political realm:

“Georgia Democrat defects to GOP after she says Democrats ‘crucified,’ ‘abandoned’ her.”

And the GOP took note of this event very quickly.

“Mesha Mainor, elected as a Democrat state representative in Georgia, supports improving education, empowering parents, and giving students the tools and resources they need to succeed. So what did Democrats – her own party – do? They attacked her,” the Republican National Committee said in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

“She is not alone in switching parties after seeing the Democrats’ obstruction of commonsense solutions. Rep. Tricia Cotham and Rep. Francis Thompson switched parties in North Carolina and Louisiana respectively, both moves giving Republicans a legislative supermajority,” said Tommy Pigott, the RNC’s rapid response director.

“It’s clear: if you support commonsense solutions that improve education, make our communities safe, and allow families to prosper, the Republican Party is the party for you,” he said.

FOXIFIED

In the holiday week of July 3-9, Fox News was the most-watched network in the cable realm, earning an average 1.2 million daily prime-time viewers that week, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Rival network MSNBC attracted an average daily prime-time viewership of 856,000, while CNN drew 543,000.

Fox News also bested its non-news competition. USA Network, which placed second in the ratings, had an average daily prime-time audience of 882,000, while the Hallmark Channel drew 814,000.

As usual, “The Five” was the most highly rated program of all for the 11th straight week with 2.4 million viewers, followed by “Jesse Watters Primetime” with 1.6 million.

The Fox News daytime lineup also bested the competition. “Fox & Friends” was the morning standout, averaging 970,000 daily viewers, compared with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” with 854,000 viewers and CNN’s “This Morning” with 333,000 viewers.

And on the weekend, “Life, Liberty & Levin” — which airs at 8 p.m. Eastern time Sunday — was the most-watched cable news program of the weekend with 1.4 million viewers.

THE GREAT GETAWAY

National Trust Tours has informed Inside the Beltway that its new 2024 tour catalog is available for those considering a getaway. These are unique tours indeed found at NationalTrustTours.com, under the catalogs heading. There are 145 excursions to consider.

The organization also maintains a list of historic hotels found at Historichotels.org.

POLL DU JOUR

• 74% of U.S. adults say that “things in the country” are heading in the wrong direction.

• 69% say the state of the U.S. economy is poor.

• 64% disapprove of the way President Biden is handling the U.S. economy.

• 58% disapprove of the way he is handling foreign policy.

• 58% disapprove of the way he is handling his job as president.

• 53% disapprove of the way he is handling health care.

• 53% have an overall unfavorable opinion of the president.

SOURCE: An Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research of 1,220 U.S. adults conducted June 22-26.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.