President Joe Biden campaigned from his Delaware basement to get to the White House.
Now, it seems he can’t wait to get back to it.
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A new CNN analysis finds he’s shattering records for time away from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., practically fleeing the nation’s capital at every chance.
Just nine months into his presidency, Biden has already taken 35 personal trips, usually to one of his two homes in Delaware or the presidential retreat at Camp David, according to CNN.
Of his first 276 days in office, Biden has spent 108 at one of those three places.
That’s 40 percent of his time as president so far.
CNN said most of those days were weekends, including partial days on Friday when he often skips town in the afternoon or evening for one of his Delaware homes.
The left, of course, howled at Donald Trump’s frequent time away from Washington.
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Now, they’re silent about Biden’s absences – even though he’s so far spent more time on vacation than his predecessor.
CNN said Trump spent all or part of 100 days at Trump properties, including 61 at either his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida or Bedminster club in New Jersey, as well as nine days at Camp David.
Barack Obama had spent all or part of 40 days either on vacation or at Camp David by this point in his presidency, while George W. Bush spent all or part of 84 days at either the presidential retreat or at his ranch in Texas.
Biden has made no secret of his discomfort with some of the trappings of the presidency.
“I get up in the morning and look at Jill and say, ‘Where the hell are we?’” he said at a town hall event in February.
He said he wasn’t used to having others do everything for him, down to handing him his jacket, and he found himself “extremely self-conscious” over life inside a White House he said was “a little like a gilded cage.”
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At another event, he admitted that it’s “very hard to get comfortable” in the White House.
Friends say he’s more at ease when he goes home to Delaware, where his extended family often gathers for the weekend.
“It is the way he feels most comfortable,” longtime friend Ted Kaufman, who served as Biden’s chief of staff during his Senate years, told NPR. “Especially in a job that is incredibly stressful.”
The White House has defended the frequent absences.
“Every president is always working no matter where they are,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki in a news conference over the summer.
But that will come as news to the left, as Democrats made Trump’s time at Mar-a-Lago a frequent talking point throughout his presidency.
And while Biden goes home to his family, Trump hosted lawmakers, dignitaries, foreign leaders and more at his hotels, allowing the then-president some degree of “soft power” to use during negotiations.
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Even Trump’s frequent rounds of golf were often chances to hammer out a deal as he brought along lawmakers and others.
In any case, the White House advance team ensures the president – no matter who it is – has everything needed to work, no matter where they are, essentially setting up a mini White House wherever it’s needed.
“They’re never out of touch or out of reach,” Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, told the Washington Post over the summer.
Engel noted that the president is pretty much always on the job in any case, working most days no matter where they are.
“They can’t unplug like you and I unplug,” he said.
— Walter W. Murray is a reporter for The Horn News. He is an outspoken conservative and a survival expert.