President Joe Biden’s absence from the public stage since the conclusion of the 2024 election has become a cause for alarm. The outgoing president’s lack of action is happening even as Donald Trump moves to take the country in a hard-right direction—before he is even sworn in as the next president.
Biden first took a step back after he decided to step down as the Democratic nominee and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s presidential candidate. But since Harris lost the race to Trump, Biden has not stepped up, creating the appearance of a leadership vacuum for both the party and the nation.
Following the presidential elections in 2008 and 2016, the outgoing presidents—George W. Bush and Barack Obama—held press conferences to discuss the race results and the nation’s path forward. Biden has not done so.
In fact, Biden has held few public events since the beginning of November. Over the weekend he commented on the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and before that he hosted the NBA champion Boston Celtics at the White House and pardoned turkeys for Thanksgiving.
Neither Biden nor Harris have weighed in as Trump has moved to replace government employees with those who have sworn loyalty to him, nor have they commented on his unqualified Cabinet nominees or his plans to deport entire families.
“There is no leadership coming from the White House. There is a total vacuum,” a Democrat close to senior lawmakers told Politico.
Leaders outside of Capitol Hill have also expressed their disappointment.
“We should be less hobbled and more spurred,” Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee told The Wall Street Journal. “We should be vocal, pushing back against these nominees who are nothing but a disaster in the making.”
Biden has also ceded ground to Trump on one of the most vital elements of the presidency: foreign policy. Trump has already held direct conversations with leaders from multiple countries including France, Ukraine, and Canada—while Biden is still in office.
Biden’s most high-profile action since the election was his decision to pardon his son, Hunter. But Biden has yet to use his power to pardon others, nor has he preemptively pardoned individuals who may be targeted by the Trump-led Department of Justice in the future.
Due to his silence and lack of action, Biden has reportedly lost more confidence from House Democrats. Asked to assess the relationship by Axios, Ohio Rep. Greg Lands said, “I don’t think great.”
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It didn’t help Biden’s image that after years of warning about Trump as a fascist threat, particularly after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Biden then invited him for a transition meeting at the White House. As the two men sat together, they shook hands and smiled.
The jovial encounter was a far cry from what Biden once called a “battle for the soul of the nation.”
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