'Lonely' Joe Biden's last days in office: Netflix marathons, silent tears, and ignored by Harris campaign
WASHINGTON, DC: One would think having a sitting president backing your campaign would be the ultimate trump card (no pun intended). But for Kamala Harris? Not so much.
With just hours to go before Election Day, Harris and her team were out in full force — rallying support with a star-studded team of political heavyweights.
Barack Obama was shaking hands in Wisconsin, Bill Clinton was working his charm in North Carolina, and even First Lady Jill Biden was in Pennsylvania, drumming up votes for Harris. But President Joe Biden was nowhere to be found.
The 'hidden' president of the campaign
So, where was Biden? Kicking back in Wilmington, Delaware. That’s right—while Harris was running on pure adrenaline, Biden was miles away hanging out at his golf club with an old buddy. For Democrat voters hoping for a last-minute Biden push, the message was pretty clear: don’t count on it.
Why the distance? Well, Biden did make a bit of a mess a few days back by calling Trump’s supporters “garbage” — a remark that Harris’ team had to quickly smooth over. Despite the White House claiming he didn’t actually say it (even though everyone heard it), Harris’ campaign wasn’t willing to take any chances.
According to insiders, the message to Biden was short and sweet — “Stay away.”
This indeed marks a major shift for Biden, who just a few months ago was firmly at the center of US politics — fit and ready to take on Trump again. But that confidence didn’t last, and by July he’d passed the torch to Harris, ending his own campaign with a public endorsement.
Just like that, Biden, 81, found himself on the political sidelines, with the spotlight shifting to the younger, more energetic candidate in Harris.
For Team Harris, it seems they were all too ready to keep Biden in the background. Rumor has it that Biden’s repeated offers to hit the campaign trail were met with polite brush-offs from Harris’s team—always a “we’ll get back to you” that never seemed to materialize, the Daily Mail reported.
First Lady Jill Biden reportedly described it as “tough” seeing him go from the main act to barely a side player.
Is Joe Biden lost and lonely?
The transition hasn’t exactly been easy on President Joe Biden. At an August reception at the White House, he joked about needing a new job and teared up a little during his speech. From all reports, he’s been having a tough time adjusting.
People close to him say he’s been “watching more television” lately, with his grandchildren suggesting shows for him on Netflix. He’s even been spotted wandering the halls looking a bit “lost,” according to some insiders.
Even Jill Biden, who had been campaigning hard for Harris, has had to leave him behind as she traveled across five states to rally for Harris. On the day she left for that trip, Biden was reportedly seen waving goodbye, alone outside the Oval Office as her motorcade pulled away.
Jill’s been keeping busy otherwise as well, teaching English part-time at Northern Virginia Community College. When she’s out on the campaign trail, she hardly even mentions Joe.
Harris had made it clear that if she won, it wouldn’t just be a rerun of Biden’s policies. She cautiously distanced herself from Biden’s record on immigration, inflation, and foreign issues, trying to strike a balance between her own ideas and the role she played as VP. That said, she also insisted she was an “active” VP—a tricky line to walk, for sure.
The 'lame duck' president
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s team said that he’s got his eye on the future, thinking about legacy projects like his presidential library and the potential revival of the Biden Foundation.
He’s considering sites for the library, with Syracuse University, the University of Delaware, and Washington, DC, all on the table. He’s got connections to each one: law school at Syracuse, undergrad at Delaware, and, of course, his decades in DC.
Since stepping aside, Biden’s schedule has been noticeably quiet. Out of the last 75 days, he’s only had public events scheduled for about half. During his recent trip to Germany, he didn’t even hold a press conference, raising eyebrows about his subdued presence.
So much so that White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre apparently has a “lame duck” file just for media questions about Biden’s inactivity.
Jill Biden acknowledged the tough transition in an interview last month.
“It will be tough to maybe step away from [the White House]," she told ABC's 'Good Morning America'. “We’re starting a new chapter of our lives, a new journey. We’ve been in politics 50 years. I think we’re ready for the new journey,” she added.
