Biden Schedule Is Heavy on Delaware, Light on Press Interviews and Golf

The numbers, which span from taking office through July 20, reflect a president who wants to head home frequently at weekends, as he did when he was a senator and vice president. They also underscore a media strategy that has relied more on prepared remarks and brief question-and-answer sessions with reporters than on formal press conferences and interviews.

Republicans have accused Mr. Biden, 79 years old, too hiding from the press. Republican National Committee spokeswoman Emma Vaughn cited high inflation and other issues facing the administration, saying: “It is no wonder Biden chooses to hide out rather than face his failures and answer to the American people.”

Republicans have also sought to highlight misstatements or apparent gaffes from Mr. Biden. At times the White House has had to clarify statements made by Mr. Biden. In the spring, Mr. Biden said US policy towards the island of Taiwan hadn’t changed after he triggered global confusion by saying the US would respond militarily to any effort by China to take Taiwan by force. Earlier in the year, the White House walked back a comment from Mr. Biden appeared to call for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ouster.

White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said the president frequently answers reporters’ questions. Mr. Biden often answers questions as he walks to Marine One, at Andrews Air Force Base, or following remarks at the White House. During a recent trip to the Middle East, he spoke to a small pool of reporters in Saudi Arabia and then took questions from reporters on the South Lawn as he returned.

Compared with recent presidents, Mr. Biden has spent more days away on personal travel than Donald Trump, who spent significant time at his properties in Bedminster, NJ, and Palm Beach, Fla., or Barack Obama, who took vacations to Martha’s Vineyard and Hawaii. But Mr. Biden has spent fewer days away from the White House than George W. Bush, who made heavy use of Camp David and regularly traveled to his ranch in Crawford, Texas. This comparison includes full and partial days away for all the presidents.

Last year, his efforts to get away in August were curtailed by the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. Taking a summer vacation is a long-time presidential tradition, as are assertions by aides that it will be a working trip.

“The presidency is a non-stop job that chief executives can do from anywhere in the world. And regardless of location, he has taken fewer vacation days than the modern norm,” said Mr. Bates.

Mr. Biden traveled to and from Delaware on Amtrak during his 36 years as a senator; his main residence is in Wilmington and he has a vacation house in Rehoboth Beach. Former Sen. Ted Kaufman, a longtime friend of Mr. Biden’s, he said he “likes Delaware. He’s comfortable here. His family is mostly here. He’s got the community.”

Mr. Biden also has a home base far more convenient to Washington than many of his predecessors, making it easier to go home. Historian Douglas Brinkley said: “The thing about Biden that makes it different is he’s a helicopter ride away from Delaware. He basically lives in suburban Washington. It’s a little different than Reagan who lived across the country,” referring to the former president’s ranch near Santa Barbara, Calif.

White House aides and allies say Mr. Biden continues to work when he is away. That includes holding meetings with staff, discussing issues, getting briefings and holding secure calls. He always travels with a team that includes a member of the National Security Council Staff and a representative of the White House chief of staff’s office.

“He basically has a team around him, so that he has everything he needs at the ready, and then, because of Zoom, we build our schedules with him. Sometimes it’s speech prep, sometimes it’s digging in on a particular issue. Most every weekend, he has NSC stuff, he’s doing his economic stuff,” said Deputy Chief of Staff Jen O’Malley Dillon.

She added, “Any idea that there is a lot of downtime in this schedule is a fallacy.”

Mr. Biden has taken a different approach to the media than his predecessors, giving fewer sit-down interviews and formal press conferences. According to Mr. Knoller, he has done 20 interviews to date—a figure that doesn’t include televised town halls—compared with 100 at this point for Mr. Trump and 206 for Mr. Obama.

With Mr. Biden’s job approval ratings hovering a bit below 40%, Republican consultant Alex Conant said that there are missed opportunities by not doing more interviews and press conferences. He said: “Speeches are good for promoting your agenda, but interviews and press conferences are where you explain your agenda. The questions reporters ask tend to be real similar to the questions real voters ask.”

Democratic strategist Mary Anne Marsh said that voters don’t care whether the president does formal interviews if they are getting information.

“They all had different ways to communicate. Obama loved the sit-down interviews,” she said. She said Mr. Biden has continued in the White House the way he campaigned: “disciplined and focused and very selective.”

When he does get away, Mr. Biden sometimes plays golf. But his 15 visits to the course as president are far fewer than Mr. Trump’s (91) or Mr. Obama’s (42). Mr. Bush clocked in with 10 at this point.

And Mr. Biden has had official foreign travel, although he has taken fewer overseas trips so far than his predecessors, which is partially due to Covid-19 travel restrictions that affected his first year in office. So far he has taken six trips and visited 13 countries. At this point Mr. Trump had made seven trips and visited 19 countries, Mr. Obama 13 trips to 22 countries and Mr. Bush nine trips to 20 countries.

Write to Catherine Lucey at [email protected]