The White House has been putting on a show mostly behind closed doors since Vice President Harris suffered a heartbreaking loss to Donald Trump.
After suffering a major loss on Nov. 5, Harris appeared several times around Washington before jetting off to Hawaii and largely disappearing from public view.
Meanwhile, President Biden managed to keep reporters at arm's length during his recent six-day trip abroad, holding meetings and events at the White House that would normally be seen on camera, at least briefly, upon his return.
The lack of engagement gives a window into what the lame duck White House will look like in its final months.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was questioned this week over Biden's refusal to take questions from the media during his visit. She suggested she might become more “involved” before the new year, but the president is known for largely avoiding questions from the media.
“I understand that you want to hear from the president. I understand. I understand that,” she said. “And I'm not saying you won't. You will. He'll definitely continue to engage with all of you.”
Michael LaRosa, a former special assistant to the president and press secretary to first lady Jill Biden, said Biden's lack of name recognition could be problematic for his legacy in the final months of his administration. .
“I really hope he starts talking to the media more often, holding press conferences and engaging with the media like I always believed he should,” LaRosa said. “But they seem to think they can shape his legacy by producing scripted and rehearsed events over the next few weeks.”
“Given his disrespectful and disrespectful torch relay and election results last July, he will want to begin to frame his legacy and tell his story in his own words,” he added. .
Biden surprised the political world by performing so badly in a June debate that he was eventually persuaded by members of his own party to withdraw his re-election bid. He endorsed Harris's endorsement. Harris' campaign surged from the start, only to be defeated by Trump's brash brand of politics, as well as by a Democrat and a woman.
Since the election, Ms. Harris has largely remained out of public view, with the exception of a concession speech the next day, an appearance at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day, and a brief stop at the White House during a visit by foreign leaders. It has not appeared.
She left for Hawaii on Tuesday and has not been heard from since.
Harris, who as president of the Senate can cast tie-breaking votes in the Senate, was also missing earlier this week when Senate Democrats pushed through Biden's nominee for attorney general before Republicans took over.
The White House also faced questions this week about how Harris was on vacation, while hundreds of Democratic staffers braced for job losses in January when Republicans also control the House and Senate.
“The vice president took time off to spend time with her family, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think she needs time to spend time with her family and take a vacation,” Jean-Pierre said. spoke. “She's worked very hard over the past four years. It's good for her to be able to spend a few days with her family.”
Back at the White House, Biden met with Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper this week to discuss hurricane relief efforts there. Such meetings typically involve brief appearances on camera, but the White House did not announce the meeting until late in the evening after it had concluded.
It was an unusual way to convey a private meeting about a topic the president has raised many times in public, including during his trip to Cooper State.
The same day, Biden also held a private ceremony to award the Medal of Freedom to former Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards. These ceremonies are usually open to the public and provide glamorous photo opportunities, but Richards was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2023. Glioblastoma is the rare and aggressive brain tumor that killed Beau Biden. Such ceremonies can be requested by the recipient's family to be performed privately.
Biden appeared on camera again Thursday at a Boston Celtics event. But by Friday, the White House was once again in darkness for much of the day. Mr. Biden and first lady Jill Biden hosted the dinner on the South Lawn, but officials remained silent for days about what the dinner commemorated. Ultimately, the answer came in the form of something else the White House should have advertised in their favor: thanking longtime supporters.
Biden's largely retreat from the spotlight, even as he heads out of office, has eased intense scrutiny over his age and mental health, including questions about his ability to serve out the remainder of his term. It will be of little use.
Some Republicans had threatened to resign when Biden withdrew from the 2024 race in July, but those voices have resurfaced since Harris' loss. Pollster Nate Silver publicly questioned this week whether Biden is good enough to be president.
Mr. LaRosa said Mr. Biden would not benefit from staying out of the public eye.
“If we don't hear from him and see him actively make his case in unscripted and unchoreographed situations, the age issue will never go away. “Yes,” LaRosa said.
Mr. LaRosa was not active with the media during the 2019 Democratic primary campaign, when Mr. He pointed out that his wife had intervened. LaRosa suggested the first lady could lobby Biden to regain access by January.
“The bunker mentality was bad for him and bad for the presidency. In these last weeks, the first lady stepped in again, took him off the leash, and hoped that Biden could be Biden at the end of his long career.” “There is,” he said. “He didn't come this far because he was shy. Why now?”
