President Joe Biden spent the majority of August on vacation, splitting 19 days between his Delaware residences and a billionaire’s mansion in Lake Tahoe.
The large swath of vacation time is the longest the president has ever taken a break from the White House in a single month, despite facing a re-election campaign on top of the daily duties of the office.
The president began the month with a seven-day break at his Rehoboth, Delaware, beach house and Wilmington residence. He returned to Delaware the next weekend — relaxing on the beach and riding his bike — before coming back to the Oval Office midday Monday, Aug. 14. Biden then spent a large part of eight days at a Lake Tahoe, Nevada, vacation home, valued at $18 million.
While Biden was away, he delivered quips about the devastating wildfires in Maui, former President Donald Trump’s mugshot and the apparent death of Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, all while keeping largely quiet about the mounting legal problems facing his son Hunter Biden.
Biden faced criticism for staying silent for days about the Maui fires. He was spotted sitting on the beach in Rehoboth, Delaware, and riding his bike Aug. 12 and 13, before apparently mouthing “no comment” about the rising death toll on the Hawaiian island.
“Biden was on the beach while those people were suffering,” GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a recent debate. “He was asked about it, and he said, ‘No comment.’ Are you kidding me? As somebody that’s handled disasters in Florida, you’ve got to be activated. You’ve got to be there. You’ve got to be present. You’ve got to be helping people who are doing this.”
After nearly two weeks of criticism, the White House denied that the president had said “no comment,” claiming he had not heard the question.
The president visited Maui on Aug. 21, taking a one-day break from his vacation in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Biden was blasted for making several jokes while visiting Maui for the first time since the deadly wildfires, including comparing the tragedy to a time in 2004 when he claimed to have almost lost his home in a kitchen fire.
The time away also seemingly impacted Biden’s response time to breaking news. When the president came out of a Lake Tahoe pilates class after Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin apparently died in a plane crash, Biden told reporters he “doesn’t know enough” about the incident.
“I’ve been working out for the last hour and a half,” Biden said in response to a question about Prigozhin’s apparent death.
US President Joe Biden speaks to the press after attending a pilates class in South Tahoe, California, on August 25, 2023. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Thursday, Biden emerged from another pilates class and told reporters he had seen Trump’s mugshot on television.
“Handsome guy,” Biden said of the former president.
Hunter Biden’s legal problems also escalated in August. A report was released showing that the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) original agreement with Hunter Biden would not have required him to plead guilty, according to documents obtained by Politico. The deal was allegedly changed after IRS whistleblowers came forward and claimed that the DOJ “slow-walked” the investigation. (RELATED: Amid Hunter Legal Troubles, Biden Hires Ed Siskel As New White House Counsel)
In July, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges when his plea deal fell apart after Delaware U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika objected to the terms of Biden’s gun charge diversion agreement. A month later, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss special counsel to oversee the Hunter Biden case.
Weiss then made a move to withdraw Hunter Biden’s Delaware tax charges to have him potentially charged in D.C. or the Central District of California.
Hunter Biden was with the president at the Lake Tahoe mansion, and was apparently seen using the back door of a yoga studio to avoid the press.