How Biden spent his vacation after six weeks that shook his presidency
CNN
After spending much of the summer under the harshest microscope his career has ever seen, President Joe Biden spent most of the last two weeks out of sight as he prepared for the final act of his political life in what will be a very different end to 2024 than he would have imagined a few months ago.
After spending much of the summer under the harshest microscope of his career, President Joe Biden spent most of the last two weeks out of sight as he prepared for the final act of his political life and a very different end to 2024 than he would have imagined a few months ago. Following a whirlwind six weeks after ending his future in presidential politics, Biden has spent the time since delivering last week’s opening-night address at the Democratic National Convention resetting in California and Delaware before he’s expected to start hitting the campaign trail in earnest to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign. The president has spent this week soaking up the sun on the beach near his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, joined by first lady Dr. Jill Biden and two of her sisters. Biden appeared to get in some work from the sand: He’s been seen reading papers as streams of onlookers filed past, waving, taking pictures, and giving the president brief words of thanks or encouragement. The president has stayed out of the public eye for large stretches of his two-week, bicoastal vacation, charting out how to spend his remaining months in office after abandoning his bid for a second term in the White House. Biden is expected to return to the campaign trail on Monday to support Harris before returning to Washington. While a late August presidential vacation is not unusual — commanders-in-chief typically use the August congressional recess to escape the nation’s capital for a more restful locale — Biden’s presidential vacation in California and Delaware follows one of the most difficult periods in the president’s five-decade political career, during which he faced weeks of public and private pressure to bow out of the 2024 race following a halting debate performance against former President Donald Trump. Biden started last week at the Democratic National Convention with a speech passing the torch to his chosen successor, Harris, and insisting he wasn’t angry at those who demanded he step aside.
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