“The reason I’m here today, just for one day — I know people [say] I’m on vacation, I’m not. I have no home to go to.[The] Secret Service has torn my house up in a good way to make it more secure,” Biden said.
A reporter asked the president if this meant he was homeless. “Oh I’m not homeless, I just have one home,” Biden replied. “I’m down here for the day because I can't go home, home,” he concluded, seemingly forgetting about the residence voters put him in.
According to US media, Biden has spent approximately 40% of his time as president on personal overnight stays away from the White House.
Earlier in the weekend, Biden claimed he still has plans to visit East Palestine, Ohio, but has not been able to because of his busy schedule. “There’s a lot going on here and I just haven’t been able to break,” the president said of his May promise to visit the city after it suffered a chemical train derailment and subsequent planned explosion that released hazardous chemicals into the air, ground and water.
While the president jokes about having only one home – other than the taxpayer-funded White House – homelessness is up in most major urban areas across the United States, including the Washington, DC, area, where homelessness has increased 18% in 2023.