Over the weekend, he was filmed via camera phone at Camp David playing Mario Kart during a period in which 79,000 people have died of COVID on his watch. That’s about as in the public eye as he’s been lately, and I’m not sure that’s by accident.
Today, news broke that Kamala Harris is taking phone calls with world leaders in Biden’s absence.
I’m not sure if such is unheard of, but it’s extremely unusual for a vice president to be taking those types of phone calls in the first few months of a new administration. This is the time the president is typically making first contact and, you know, doing his job as the leader of the free world. Instead, reports are that he’s going to bed early as if there’s nothing important going on in the world. The White House is starting to resemble a nursing home.
Meanwhile, Biden has also not called any governors involved in the massive winter storm that has crippled Texas and the South.
Is it surprising, though? Yes, we could just write this off as partisanship and Biden simply not caring, but that’s not usually his style. He likes to feign empathy every chance he gets. Biden being incapable of making those calls and offering help seems more probable. You can speculate as to why.
Try to imagine a situation where Donald Trump didn’t call the governors of blue states that had just been hit by a massive, debilitating storm that has left millions out of power and freezing? That might make the news, right? The media are more than happy to run cover for Biden, though, who apparently doesn’t have to do much of anything in his new job as president except exist, and even then, just barely.