RNC has the numbers on Biden’s time on vacation

NEWS AND OPINION:

Leisure time has become a factor in the White House — and the Republican Party is tracking the trajectory of it while providing the damning numbers as well.

“President Biden requires a lot of vacation. In 2023, Biden spent 142 days — 38.9% of the year — on vacation. That includes at least 30 trips to Delaware, 10 trips to Camp David, portions of two visits to the U.S. Virgin Islands, and vacations in Nantucket and Lake Tahoe,” said Jake Schneider, director of rapid response for the Republican National Committee.

“After nearly three years in office, Biden remains well on track to outpace each of his modern-day predecessors in leisure,” he said in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

And here are the exact figures, according to a GOP report that provides the stats for Mr. Biden, plus former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter.

“Biden has spent a total of 424 days — 39.3% of his presidency — on vacation. Over two full terms, Obama spent 328 days (11.2%), [George W.] Bush spent 1,020 days (34.9%), Clinton spent 345 days (11.8%), and Reagan spent 335 days (11.5%) on vacation,” the report noted.

“Over a single term, Trump spent 381 days (26%), [George H.W.] Bush spent 533 days (36.5%), and Carter spent 79 days (5.4%) on vacation,” it said.

In 2023, Mr. Biden also kept up his tradition of doing far fewer press conferences and interviews than his predecessors.
“Given Biden’s declining stamina and proclivity for incoherence, the reason for his reclusiveness isn’t exactly a secret. He’s not up for the job,” Mr. Schneider said.

THE SUNBURN FACTOR

Yes, the press acknowledged President Biden’s Caribbean getaway this week. One aspect, however, drew more attention than anything else. Headlines from the last 24 hours tell the story:

“Joe Biden leaves St. Croix vacation with spectacular sunburn: Code Red” (Daily Beast); “Biden departs St. Croix with wicked sunburn after 7-day island vacation” (New York Post); “Joe Biden, 81, sports lobster-red sunburn as he returns from Caribbean vacation just nine months after having skin cancer surgery” (The Daily Mail); “‘You trying to kill yourself?’: Fox hosts criticize Biden’s sunburn after vacation” (Daily Caller); and “Photo of Joe Biden coming back from vacation brutally mocked” (Newsweek).

IS MANCHIN UP NEXT?

The allure of 2024 grows stronger.

Consider the appeal of “Politics and Eggs,” an influential forum launched in 1996 by the New Hampshire Institute of Politics and Political Library at St. Anselm College in Manchester, and the New England Council, which has offices in the nation’s capital and Boston.

Republican presidential hopefuls Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis plus Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a former candidate, have all had their say there. But here’s one more.

Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, will make an appearance on Jan. 12. He has announced that he will not seek reelection — which adds some mild intrigue.

“I know our country isn’t as divided as Washington wants us to believe. We share common values of family, freedom, democracy, dignity and a belief that together we can overcome any challenge. We need to take back America and not let this divisive hatred further pull us apart,” the lawmaker said in a statement when he announced Nov. 9 that he would not seek another Senate term.

“Public service has and continues to drive me every day. That is the vow that I made to my father 40 years ago, and I intend to keep that vow until my dying day,” Mr. Manchin added.

Will he announce his intent to run for the White House? Some think so.

“A potential presidential candidacy from Mr. Manchin has been the topic of speculation for months and Mr. Manchin’s decision to not run for re-election and instead travel the country ‘to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle’ only added to that speculation,” wrote New York Sun political reporter Russell Payne on Wednesday.

The New Hampshire presidential primary, by the way, is Jan. 23.

FOXIFIED

Fox News remained cable television’s most-watched network for the eighth consecutive year in 2023, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.

In prime time, Fox News averaged 1.8 million daily viewers, compared with MSNBC with 1.2 million and CNN with 582,000. In the daytime hours, the network drew an average of 1.2 million viewers, while the MSNBC audience numbered 776,000 and the CNN audience 479,000.

Republican primary debates drew the largest audiences of all. The first Republican primary debate — co-moderated by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum — attracted a hefty audience of 13 million viewers. The second debate, on Fox Business Network and co-moderated by Dana Perino and Stuart Varney, attracted 9.5 million viewers.

Fox News also will air two live town halls with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, each focusing solely on “women’s issues” and set for next week in Des Moines, Iowa.

The candidate encounters will each air at 6 p.m. on “Special Report,” with Mrs. Haley to appear Jan. 8, and Mr. DeSantis on Jan. 9. Each candidate will take questions from Mr. Baier and Ms. MacCallum in front of a live audience.

POLL DU JOUR

• 37% of registered U.S. voters would vote for former President Donald Trump if the presidential election were held today.

• 34% would vote for President Biden.

• 11% are undecided about whom they would vote for.

• 10% would vote for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

• 2% would vote for Libertarian candidate Lars Mapstead.

• 2% would vote for independent candidate Cornel West.

• 2% would vote for the candidate of “No Labels,” a political organization that supports centrism and bipartisanship but has yet to name its candidate.

• 1% would vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

SOURCE: A USA Today/Suffolk University telephone poll of 1,000 registered U.S. voters conducted from Dec. 26 to Dec. 29.

• Contact Jennifer Harper at jharper@washingtontimes.com.