- Sputnik International, 1920
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

'Commander-in-Absence': Joe Biden Grilled For Vacationing Amid Taliban Surge, Border Crisis

© AFP 2023 / MANDEL NGANUS President Joe Biden makes his way to board Marine One before departing from Fort McNair in Washington, DC on August 12, 2021. - Biden is heading to his residence in Wilmington, Delaware.
US President Joe Biden makes his way to board Marine One before departing from Fort McNair in Washington, DC on August 12, 2021. - Biden is heading to his residence in Wilmington, Delaware. - Sputnik International, 1920, 14.08.2021
Subscribe
Being the President of the United States is de facto a 24/7 job, which hardly envisages a proper vacation. However, a president that tends to change his surroundings for retreats too frequently can face a lot of criticism, as did POTUS 45, Donald Trump, who loved to decamp for some golfing in the middle of the COVID pandemic.
US President Joe Biden departed to Camp David for a vacation retreat on Friday, even though the US southern border has been swarmed by a record number of migrants, and the Taliban is advancing through Afghanistan as American troops exit the country.
Many noted that it might not be the best time to head for vacation. Some pointed out that the president usually departs Washington DC for Delaware on the weekends, where he spent the last several days before traveling to Camp David. 
Among the critics are many Republican officials, some particularly raising eyebrows at the fact that former US President Donald Trump would be lambasted over his frequent visits to the golf course during his tenure, but Biden does not appear to receive the same amount of criticism.
​GOP Representative Andy Biggs invented his own personal sarcastic nickname for Biden, dubbing him a "commander-in-absence".
​Other netizens joined the choir of those discontented by the president's absence in the White House amid rising inflation and the crisis in Afghanistan and on the southern border.
​Some even did the math.
​The backlash flocks Twitter threads even though White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki observed that "every president is always working no matter where they are". 
Some experts, like the director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University Jeffrey Engel, say that vacation for the president really means "working two-thirds of a day as opposed to what they might do in Washington."
Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала